The Perry Brothers - Ch. 18

Terri and Terry, 20 years old

Both of the brothers are looking at Roland and Molly. Both of them get thoughts and Terry starts intensly writing a poem. "Hey, Terry. I was thinking that, you know, it's been a while since my last relationship. So I thought that I should get back out there." "Yeah?" "Well, I was thinking that a good option would be... online dating." "Okay. You're seriously asking for a permission?" Terri is surprised byt the answer. "Uh... I guess. But you said that you don't like it? I don't remember when, but you said that you never know what you end up with and that it also feels like cheating, and you can't find anyone who you really, truly love online." "Yeah, I did. But the point when you do have to ask for permission is when you actually find someone and want to go on a date." "So, it's cool if I make an account?" "Sure. No one's gonna be interested in you anyway." Terri sighs with a friendly tone. "You wanna do it with me?"

   The brothers open up the MonsterMatch. Terri is in charge of the keyboard and Terry controls the mouse. "Do you want an account?" Terry looks at his brother with a look, that sends the message. Ofcourse he doesn't. He seems to be 'foreveralone' by choice. The twins start making Terri an account. The basic things. Name, e-mail, password. They got an old picture that was already on the laptop and edited a red circle and a text saying "this one's me" on top of it. Then people would know, which one of the brothers is the one looking for someone. The site gives a choice in who Terri is looking for. "So, you're interested in...? Men, women or both?" "Women! Terry, why are you asking that? Women, ofcourse! What are you thinking?!" "Whoa, whoa! Calm down. I was just asking. How could I know for sure?" Terri feels uncomfortable. Insulted. Terry feels slightly insulted too, by Terri's freak out. Is it really that bad to ask?

   Terri explains the fact that he has a conjoined brother in the 'more things you should know about me'. "And now we wait..." The brothers sit around, silently waiting. "So... How long should we wait?" "I don't know..." The awkward silence starts echoing. It's walking around the room, making sure that everyone can hear it. But silence never stays. It has to be interrupted. "Ding ding!"

   "Someone messaged me, someone messaged me!" Terri starts staring at the screen. Some girl has started to chat with him. The twins go and check out her profile. She's Celia Mae. Her profile pic shows that she is magenta, with one blue eye and five purple snakes as hair. She says that she's 21 years old. "She seems pretty good, right?" Terry isn't quite convinced. He knows that Terri just wants to find a girlfriend real quick. But Terry doesn't care. He let's his brother go on with the chatting and try to arrange a date. It's none of his business anyways. It's Terri's life, not Terry's.

The Perry Brothers - Ch. 17

Terri and Terry, 19 years old
"Can we take it a little slower?" Tomorrow will be Terri's dance group's performance. They're rehersing, but Terry isn't really getting the steps. "Terry, tomorrow is the show, we need to learn it the way it's gonna be." "You were supposed to learn this ages ago too." The group's teacher is getting real tired of Terry. "I'm trying my hardest, really, but I'm not a dancer." "That's because you don't believe, that you could be a dancer." "Well, to be honest, yeah! I don't want to be a dancer." The teacher gives a big sigh and orders everyone to the beginning places. All of Terri's class mates are tired of Terry too and so is Terri starting to be. "I'm sorry, Terri. I just can't-" "Just try and concentrait on the dancing, instead of apologizing."

   At first the dance starts out good. Wave, step, step, step, wave, step, step, step... Every move is done to the music. Terry's moves are made slightly simpler than the others'. The group is working together well. Reach for the sky, right, left, close it in, let it all out. There are solo parts, with a couple of monsters going dancing in the front and the others in the background. Once it's Terri's and two others' turn the steps start getting faster. Front, back, side, back, front, front, back, side, back, front, front, back, side, back, front, side, back, side, front, side, side, side... Terry's getting confused. He forgets a couple of steps, trips over his brother's tentacles and isn't quick enough. But somehow Terri manages to keep them upright. Spin, jump. The landing isn't that graceful. Reach for the sky, come back down. Wait. Terry can't stay still. Get back up, arm in the front, back to the sky, come back down, throw it away, back to the side. Choreographers always come up with some weird and annyiong mnemonics. Walk back. Steps. Hands to the side. Right, left. Hands up. Right, left. Slowly down. Right, left. Terry gets the timing wrong. Stay still. Now Terry has time to think what the next move is. The next part is more free. Start waking. Slowly go mad. You'd think that it's the point of a disaster, but in this part, you're supposed to stay still. It's more arms going wild and head twitching. The music is getting intense. Run, ballet jump. Terry can't do the spinning right. Long steps. Sit down, beg. Tornado your way up. Artistic bow. Terry messes up. Walk back and to the right. Hold yourself. Stop and wait. Drop.

   "Alright, we're done! Remember to come tomorrow, 5pm, and bring your performance outfits." Terry is relieved. Thank god, it's over! "Perry! I want to talk to you." Terry and Terri walk up to the coach. She doesn't seem happy. "Terri, I am sorry, but if your brother can't learn the choreography, I'm afraid, you can't attend the show." "Wait, what? But, I've rehersed and I'm doing great and-" "But Terry sadly isn't. It is a sad truth, that if one of you can't, neither can." Terri is desperate. The show means a lot to him. "Don't worry, we'll make it. We'll practise and I'll teach Terry! Tomorrow, before the show, I'll show you what we can do. And then we'll be in, right?" "Very well. But I'm going to have to replace you if the dance doesn't go perfectely tomorrow." "I'll show you! We can  do it."

   The brothers go after the other guys of the group, to the changing room and take a shower. All the others are staring at them. At Terry in particular and he doesn't like it. Neither of them do. Most of the other dancers know that Terri's a cool guy and a really good dancer, but they're definitely not warming up to Terry. So many times, he's been the reason they have to start over. The brothers go stand underneath the shower and feel the water drops constantly falling onto their back. Terri is staying completely silent. The only things heard are the water and people talking in the room next door. Dancing doesn't work that well for the two of them. Especially with quick steps, since Terry has more tentacles than his brother, but less talent. Usually when this fact comes up, people are surprised. Even though they'd have accepted the fact that Terry and Terri are different people, they somehow imagine, them both mastering the talents done with anything else than their heads.

   "Terri. I'm trying my best, I know you really wanna be in the show and I know you'll do your best teaching me. But I don't think it's gonna happen. We have less than a day!" "Okay, I'm going to teach you, if it's the last thing I'll do. I don't care if it takes all night. I - am NOT - going to give up." Terri isn't usually this intimidating. It's scary. Terry decides to stay silent. He knows that this might lead to a fight, so it's better to leave it there.

   The 'party central' has been cleared out. All the furnitures are next to the walls here and there. Terri's phone creates an annoying echo of the music the brothers are dancing to. The tempo is really fast. "ONE two three four, ONE two three four, ONE two three... Terry! How can you turn THIS into a waltz?" "I-I don't know! Was I supposed to? Because then I think the teacher has some communication issues..." "No! You're not supposed to. But you still did. It's one two three FOUR! Do not forget about it." "Gee! Calm down." Terri opens his mouth to continue arguing, but then sighs and goes on dancing and trying to get Terry to learn.

   It's half past four in the evening. Everyone's wearing tight, black tanktops with red, yellow and orange vails attached to them. Terry's feeling nervous. He knows how much this means to Terri. Terri knocks on the door and the twins go inside. "Do you feel like you're good enough for the performance?" "Y-yeah." The coach puts the music playing and gestures Terry and Terri to go to their place. If just this one goes right, they'll be able to dance in front of the audience. A part of Terry doesn't want to succeed.

   "Thank you. Terri, you are an amazing dancer, but you need to find the dance that you can do best, even with the problem. Because I'm feeling forgiving I'll let you perform. Go to the starting places and tell everyone else to go too!" There's quite an audience. Deep breaths. It'll be fine. The music starts out of nowhere and everyone almost automatically start dancing. Here it goes.

The Perry Brothers - Ch. 16

Terri and Terry, 18 years old

It's dark. The brothers are sitting by the desk with big books. Neither of them can't stay awake for much longer. "Terry, I can't do this anymore. I... WE need to sleep." "I-I know, but the final exams are tomorrow. If we fail, we're gonna get kicked out. We need to pass." Terri sighs and continues turning the pages. "It's no use... I'm too tired to actually read. I'm reading the text, but not the things I need to learn." Terry ignores the comment.

   Roland has been practising one of his songs in the campus' storage. He comes back and goes behind the twins, looking at their studying. Terry looks over to him. The little table lamp makes him glow. The whole universe is in his eyes. Terry's lower hand starts subconsciously to look for a hand to grab. Terry quickly puts both of his hands in a fist. Terri gets confused, but continues trying to study. Terry once again gets the feeling. It's scary. Terry can't think of anything else. He has so much to say. But he can't. There's something in his way. He starts breathing heavily. Suddenly he realizes, there's a tear rolling down his cheek. Terry turns away and tries to stop crying. Terri and Roland try to ask something, but Terry interrupts them before they even say anything. "I'm fine! There's just... something in my eye." "Terry? Are you sur-" "I said, I'm fine, okay? I'm fine! I've never been better! I'm fine!" Terry is floating. He feels warm inside. But he wants to stop. He doesn't want to feel this way. He looks at Roland as he goes to bed. He has the urge to go lie down next to him. Finally, Terri falls asleep by the books and Terry cries himself to sleep.

   "We failed the exams?" The brothers didn't do very well. Terry just about made it, but Terri failed pretty badly. Because of that, the university decided to kick both of them out of the scaring program. "What're we gonna do now?" "I don't know... I guess we have to find a new major." Terry and Terri go through the choices they have. They don't seem to agree on anything. Terry is interested in english, maybe history. Terri won't change his mind about dancing. It's impossible. They can't decide on anything. "Would it be possible to pick both?" "What?" "You know... You'll have english, I'll have dancing." Terry looks at his brother in disbelief. "And how would that turn out? We can't have our schedules completely different." "Why not? I mean, I know, but... Sometimes in life, you just have try the dumbest things. They might work." Terry is tempted by the idea, even though he isn't that spontaneous to try something like this. He wants Terri to come up with something convincing before he joins in the idea. "We want to show people, we're two different people. Having different majors is, in my opinion, the best way, atleast for now." "You know what? That's the smartest thing, I've ever heard you say." The twins smile at each other. "Thanks... Wait, are you saying, I'm stupid?" "Yes!" Terry and Terri start arguing and joking around.

   The twins have gone for a walk. They talk and laugh, but a lot of the time they stay silent. But it's nice. It's those small moments that count. It's cool outside and it feels nice. Terri looks at Terry. He's not seen his brother this happy in a long time. Terry's been really stressed out lately. Of course, he doesn't usually show his happiness anyways, but during their first year in college, you could see that Terry is worrying about something. But if there's one thing Terri has learned, it's that when Terry isn't feeling so great, he wants to be alone. He wants to be alone quite often. People usually think that Terry is shy, but in reality, he just has no interest in being everyone's friend.

   "Oh, hey!" Don walks past the twins. The brothers continue their walk, but then Terri starts talking with Don. "Hey, you running low on fraternity members?" "Well, we don't have problem with our group, but we could fit in some new friends if you want to." "Terry?" The puppy dog eye. Terry is getting really tired of it, though it always works. Maybe that's the reason he doesn't like it. "We'll be there tomorrow morning."

   "Roland, I hope you're fine with us going." "Ofcourse! Seriously, no problem." Terry is sad leaving Roland, but at the same time he's very relieved. They are still going to see him every now and then, when they have time. They're friends. And Terry can't forget about him. Hopefully he'll get over it. The brothers pack and head to the fraternity house.

   "Hi, guys!" Terri and Terry arrive and get a warm welcome. Scott shows them their room, that they're sharing with Scott. There's a bunkbed and the twins are going to sleep on the top. They start to unpack. "Thanks, Scott!" "Just call me Squishy." Everyone gets downstairs and eats their meal. Suddenly, Art pops up from the basement. He's been preparing for something that's supposed to get everyone to know each other better.

   The whole place is light with candles. There are four pillows on the floor in a semi-circle. There's music in the backround. It's not too loud, but it's still loud enough to set the mood. At first the mood is a little scary and confusing. Art leads everyone to sit on one pillow. Terri and Terry obviously share a seat. "Alright, this evening, we're all gonna get closer together. At first everyone tells something we might not know." Terry gasps silently. He knows where this is going. His personal space is very stricht. Both physical and psychological. After a short silence, Squishy starts talking: "Well uh, I don't wanna be a killjoy, but I don't really have any secrets. Atleast none so small I could tell even you guys..." Don thinks for a moment and then opens his mouth aswell: "I guess this one's pretty decent: when I was in high school, I wasn't as jolly as I am nowadays. I was dressing up in black, getting piercings and using very extreme make up. I wouldn't say I was any specific style, but that's what I was and to be honest, I'd rather leave those days behind."

   It's Terri's turn. He thinks for a moment. He doesn't really have any secrets. None. He always tells everyone everything. "Uh, I think Terry's really cute when he sleeps?" "Wait, what?" "Well, you know, when I can't sleep, I just watch you sleep." "Excuuuuuuse me? I think, I missed something here..." "What? Is it illegal to look at your own brother?" "No, you... Dude, it's just really creepy! Seriously, I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep again." Once the argument is over Art continues: "So, Terry. What about you? Any secrets?" Terri laughs: "YES! A lot. Terry always keeps everything to himself. He won't even tell ME anything!" Terry stops for a moment. Does he really trust all of these people enough to tell them? The others are staring at Terry, questioning. "I... I-I'm scared." Everyone's confused. Terri tries to make things more clear: "So, your secret is...?" "That's it. I... am scared. That's my secret." Terri starts thinking that it's no secret, but then again, he never admits it. Terry doesn't hide his fear, but Terry has actually never really said, that he's scared. It seemed like a pretty big step.

   Art smiles warmly and then gets back to the questions. "Okay, what's the worst thing you've ever done? Squishy?" "Well, I did once sneak out of the house and bought an energy drink, so I was grounded." "When was that?" "... Two years ago... I didn't really even drink it." "Don?" "When I was younger, I did quite a lot of things I regret... Once I sneaked into the girls locker room, on the ceiling. With the help of my tentacles. But once again, I'm trying to leave those days behind." "Terri?" Terry instantly starts teasing: "How about that time you forced me into a roller coaster?" "Oh, c'moon, it wasn't that bad. It was fun!" Terry fakes an obvious laugh. "What about, when you got us into the hospital?" "Terry! You know that I didn't mean it, we were kids. And you are just as guilty as I am." "I know, I know... And you drank quite a lot at that party." "Terry! Okay, I got it! I've made mistakes! I guess my LOVELY brother already told enough... Art, how about you tell us something?" Art gets a mysterious look on his face. There's a faint smile, but it's more scary. "I don't want to really ruin my reputation, but I'll say something. Not everyone has liked me. Especially the police. There has been some bigger trouble..." Art looks at everyone's terrified expressions and then starts smiling his normal, friendly, hyperactive smile. "Enough about that! Let's continue!"

   "Now, let's get to some hard spots. We can all trust each other here. The most heart breaking stuff you've gone through. I myself have been trying not to mess my life with a relationship. I don't feel like I'm ready." Squishy is the first one to say anything. "To be honest, I've never been succesful in these things. Maybe just all the rejections I've had is enough." Don looks at the floor and finally gets something said. "When I was in my good old thirties, my wife... She had something with a cleaner... She just sort of... left." Terry is ready to console his brother. He's prepared, or atleast he hopes so. "It was about two years ago. I was with this girl, Emily. We were like the perfect couple." Suddenly Terry starts think of Roland. And then Molly. They seem like a perfect couple. Terry gets the idea that he and Roland would be... No no no! He needs to forget. He needs to stop thinking about it. It'll never be and there's nothing anyone can do about it. So it must be forgotten. "... but then she... She left me. She said that she couldn't be in a serious relationship with me, beacause of... of Terry." Terri is trying his hardest not to cry. He thought that he got over it already, but when he mentioned, it was because of Terry, he couldn't take it. Terry means pretty much everything to him. He couldn't imagine a life without him. His lovely brother...

   Terry is expected to say something. He starts feeling the pressure. "I... uh... Not even Terri knows, but... You see I... I actually have fallen in... you know... love... but it'll never be because I'm... well... ineterested in... um... yeah, and he... He's strai... I..." Terry's hands are sweating and trembling. The back of his head is burning. He can feel his heart beat all over his body. "I think... The most heart breaking thing, I've gone through..." People are expecting something, that Terry really doesn't want to say. "Is seeing Terri heart broken." Don, Art and Squishy are confused at first, but let him be. They can see that he doesn't want to talk about it. But this isn't enough for Terri. He knows Terry was going to say something else. Terri can't understand, how Terry can't even tell him, his own brother! He knows, he can't let Terry keep his secrets forever.

The Perry Brothers - Ch. 15

Terri and Terry, 18 years old

"I'm not so sure about this..." "Terry, it'll be fine. You're such a coward." "A little party never killed no one." "Okay, well first of all, that's a double negative, second of all, this is an open party for all! Especially since ROR is popular, I'd say almost everyone will be here, so it's not a 'little' party. And third of all; Yes. Parties have killed people." Terri, Terry, Roland and Molly are going to a party. Terri and Roland are the most eager to go. Terry agreed to come because of Terri's puppy dog eye and also, just the fact that Roland's going. The music leaks out of the house ominously.

   Once they open the door the music sounds even louder. Young monsters dancing, loud music, some drinks. It shouldn't be that bad, right? It's pretty crowded and Terry and Molly feel squashed. For Terri, this is the most exciting thing. This is the college life, he was dreaming of. Roland goes dancing right away with Molly, though she'd rather stay away from the dance floor. Terri follows them and drags Terry with him. They dance and have fun.

   Terry tries to keep up with his brother's steps, but he is deep lost in his thoughts. He's trying to look for answers, but his mind is like a maze. There's a void inside of him. He wants to say so many things, but he just can't. He has never felt this way before. No one has had this effect on Terry. Not ever. 18 long years. He just wants to scream. Everything's bottling up inside of him. The anger, the fear, the sorrow. But Terry never has the chance to let it out. He's never alone. Terry has always had so many secrets. But this one. This is different. Roland and Molly dance together. They kiss. They love. Terry can't breathe. He's shaking. He can't keep up with the music.

   After a while of dancing, Terri starts thinking. What else do you just have to do in a party? He looks around and sees a bar. He hesitates at first, but then walkes determinated to the counter. "Something strong." "Whoa, whoa! Terri, what?" "What?" "What? Argh, I'm not gonna start this..." Terri receives his drink. "Serioulsy, what?" "You... Neither of us ever drink." "So? It's never too late to begin." Terri tries to take a sip, but Terry interrupts him. "Yeah... Though, the last time you tried, you had to drink atleast a bathtubful of water afterwards." "Well, yeah, but... I... Just let me live my life, okay?" "Just... Just don't drink too much."

   Three cans and two shots. "Woah... Terry, do you see that? It's like... like..." "Like your ignorance and stupidity." Both of the brothers wobble around. Terri has lost his ability to think straight. Terry feels dizzy and unstable too. He tries to get both of them to sit down. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey... Terrrrrrry. What's tha pol... porleb... plormb..." "Right now? You, you're my problem." "Nonononono! You're weird. You're like, staring into emptiness an' stuffs..." Terry starts getting really frustrated. "Just shut up. I don't know, what you're talking about." "Aw, yes you dooo! You've got a secret. Yeah, a dark one. Or sad. Or something." "Wh-why would I have a secret?" "You always have secrets! But you know what? This one's different. I know it!" Terry starts panicing and feeling relieved at the same time. "Why would you know?" "Oh, come on, Terry. You can't fool me. I've been in love!" Both of the twins stop in shock. Terry is scared. Is Terri right? Is it love? Or maybe he's just drank too much... Instead, Terri starts remembering. "I've been in love... Oh god! Emily... Emily, nonononono! Emily!" Terri continues repeating her name in tears. The brothers sit down on some stairs, both thinking of their unfortunate love life. Everything starts getting blurry and suddenly the world turns sideways.

   "Ugh..." Terri opens his eye and a bright light shines in both of the twins' eyes. They're lying down on a huge soft bed. "Hey, fellas. You okay?" An old monster with tentacles and a mustache is standing by the bed. The room around starts to form. It's pretty cozy. There are flower patterned curtains and a big wooden closet. "Where are we? Why are we here?" "You were at the big party last night, right? We were walking past the place and you boys were left in the walk way. You probably passed out and were thown out, well, we couldn't just leave you there." Terry looks over to Terri with a blaming look. "Anyways, who are you? Where are we?" "Oh, I'm Don Carlton, the president of the Oozma Kappa fraternity. This is our fraternity house. Though it is owned by Scott's mom..." "Terry. With a 'y'." "Terri with an 'i'..." "If you can't tell, we're twins." Don laughs a little and the twins try to smile too, but they've got a terrible headache.

   "Oh, they've woken up!" A blonde lady walks in with cups of cocoa. Don introduces her to the twins. She's Scott's mom. Terry and Terri drink their cocoa and go downstairs. They meet Scott and Art. Scott is small, innocent and Art... He was more special. He seems cool, though he's pretty mysterious. Scary mysterious. Everyone seems pretty nice. Terry starts to have second thoughts about a fraternity.

The Perry Brothers - Ch. 14

Terri and Terry, 18 years old

"Hey, guys! There's a karaoke party at the campus tonight." Roland is excited and asks the twins to join. He's going with Molly, ofcourse, but he's always glad if more people come. Terri is eager to try some karaoke. As it is expected Terry isn't that interested in singing in front of a lot of people, but he thinks it'd be nice to get rid of his worries for a while

 and relax. He's taking college really seriously. But it's good. The brothers have to work really hard to become professional scarers. After all they can be kicked out already at the end of this year if they fail the final exams. But Terri should remember that they both have to pass...

   It's dark, but different colour lights surround all the happy monsters. Loud music covers everything. People are laughing and singing. Even though their singing voices wouldn't be the best, they're all having fun. Terry looks at Roland, having his arm around Molly. Terry feels strange. There's something wrong. Terri interrupts his brother's thoughts: "Hey, let's go sing something. Please!" Terri pulls out the puppy dog eye. Terry can't say no. They go to the spot light and pick their favourite song. One of the few things they agree on. They often sing it together in the shower or when they're cooking. At first Terry is a bit shy, but Terri encourages him to sing his heart out. They're having the time of their life. Once the song is over people applaud and the brothers feel prouder than ever.

   "Should we go and sing a duet?" Roland looks at Molly and then glances over to Terri and Terry. Terri shouts a big yes, but Terry is deep in his thoughts. He can't hear the music or the talking. He can only hear the questions in his head, things different parts of himself are shouting at him and his heart beat. Well, their heart beat. Terry has got it racing. Finally he realizes the question Roland asked and nods hesitantly.

   Roland and Molly go to the karaoke machine and pick a love song. Molly starts off. Her voice is nice and pretty. It doesn't really stand out, but she's alright. Then comes Roland's part. He's got a really nice singing voice. It's beautiful. It's very opera-like, but with a small touch of jazz and pop. His voice is really strong. He's not afraid of performing at all. Molly and Roland sing together in perfect harmony. They look into each others eyes, like true lovers. Like true lovers... They ARE true lovers! That thought shocks Terry. He doesn't know why. As he looks at the couple singing, Terry almost tears up. Theres a huge stone in his heart. There's a candle inside of him. It's melting him, burning him. He's feeling dizzy. So many questions. He's asking them from himself over and over again. There is an answer, but Terry thinks, that it couldn' be. It just doesn't make sense.