Maria Elsher kept both hands tight on the steering wheel as Hawkins Middle School came into view.
The building looked the same—brick walls, peeling banners, kids pouring out of buses or arriving via biking like any other year. Ordinary. Safe-looking.
Maria didn't trust it.
"Remember," she said, steadying her voice, "no attention. You don't need to impress anyone. If anything feels wrong, you come straight home."
Knox sat in the back, skateboard upright between his knees. His leg bounced despite his effort to stay still. Headphones hung around his neck—pointless. He could hear everything anyway: engines coughing, lockers slamming, a laugh that cut too sharp to be friendly. Nova sat beside him, adjusting the straps on her roller skates.
Maria glanced at them in the rearview mirror. "You sure you want to bring those today?"
Nova didn't hesitate. "Yeah." Knox added quietly, "We'll switch once we're inside."
Maria nodded, worry creasing her brow. "Okay… just be careful. Both of you."
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Maria had bought them on a rare day off in Indianapolis, trying to pretend they were just a normal family doing normal things.
First the skates. Nova had touched the leather like it might vanish if she let go.
Then the skateboard. Knox tested its weight, rolled it once along the floor.
"It's quiet," he'd said.
Maria bought them without asking questions.
They practiced at night—empty parking lots, cracked sidewalks, long stretches of road where no one watched Maria made sure it was. Knox learned balance and control. Nova learned speed without fear.
Rolling gave them movement without tearing the world open. Freedom without consequences.
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Maria parked across the street. "Go to the main office and ask to call me if it felt to much."
"We will," Nova promised.
They stepped out. The noise didn't stop—but it shifted. People noticed. Not just the board or the skates. Their eyes.
Knox's—one brown, one blue—flicked across the courtyard. Nova's—green and blue—caught sunlight, unsettling in a subtle way.
Whispers followed.
Nova already gliding through the pavement with her shoes in hand and bag over her shoulders with Knox already in his skateboard just behind her.
They glided steadily to the entrance, then switched back to walking once inside—skates and board already in their arms. Hallways buzzed. Knox mapped exits. Nova dimmed the thoughts around her to a dull hum.
They sat by the office as instructed, checking schedules and which classes they had together.
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Mr. Clarke was tapping chalk against the board when there was a knock and opened the door.
The principal stepped in, guiding the twins. "Mr. Clarke, I'll leave them in your care." then left.
Knox felt the room shift—not silence, but attention.
"Class, we're continuing the year with two new students," Mr. Clarke said, smiling. "Nova Elsher… and her brother, Knox."
Knox stood, skateboard tucked under his arm, expression neutral.
"Why don't you tell us a little about yourselves?" Clarke prompted.
Nova hesitated a beat. "We just moved here. From… out of town."
A few kids snickered quietly.
"And your interests?" Clarke asked.
Knox answered first: "Skate." Nova added, "Arcades."
"Excellent! Physics in motion—momentum, balance… very practical applications," Clarke said, eyes twinkling.
Dustin leaned toward Mike. "Told you they're cool."
Lucas elbowed him. "Shh."
Mr. Clarke had pointed out their seats near the windows. As Knox walked past the rows, someone whispered, "Did you see his eyes?"
Knox didn't react. Nova heard it instead—thoughts more than words. Along the lines of Strange and Not normal they were.
Will glanced over his shoulder. Twice. Nova met his gaze. Not invading his mind, just looking. He looked away quickly, cheeks red.
Mike just beside him noticed and slightly smirked quickly looking back to his notes.
Mr. Clarke returned to the board. "Today we're talking about energy transfer."
Knox almost smiled.
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THE FIRST WEEKS
Days fell into a pattern—not routine, but observation.
They arrived together, left together. Sat strategically. Nova learned which teachers asked too many questions, Knox learned which bells were the loudest.
Lunches were quiet, side by side. Curious kids approached sometimes—about the board, the skates, their eyes. Knox answered politely but briefly. Nova smiled noncommittally.
Conversations fizzled.
They became familiar shapes in the halls—recognized, but not known. Teachers noted their intelligence. Students noted their silence. And the Party noticed them constantly.
From the distance "the party" were looking at them
"They're back by the windows again," Dustin squinted across the cafeteria.
"They don't sit with anyone," Mike said.
"That's intentional," Lucas muttered.
Will stayed quiet, watching Nova skate slow loops in the parking lot after school while Knox waited on his board. She wasn't racing. She wasn't showing off. She moved like she was listening to something no one else could hear.
"She skates like it's… important," Will whisper to himself. Suddenly realising that they all heard it still.
"Uh… what?" Dustin blinked.
Mike leaned back. "Everything about them is kind of weird not in a bad way though." discreetly side eyeing will's drawings with a face filled with knowingness.
Will looked down at his sketchbook. A page full of roller skates. And a girl at the bottom of the page skating away hair flowing with the wind carefree with a small smile, a detail only will unknowingly known by how lately he was observing her. Cheeks suddenly red and tried to discreetly turning to page wishing they hadn't seen it.
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Though every instinct in Maria told her to stay close—hovering, watching, protecting—she forced herself to take a step back. The twins could handle themselves, I mean they have powers for god's sake. She knew that. If anything went wrong, Nova and Knox were more than capable of dealing with it.
Still, letting go was never easy.
So instead of hovering, Maria compromised. She drove them to the arcade, pressed a generous handful of coins into their palms, and told herself she was doing the right thing. Two… maybe three hours. That was reasonable. They deserved it.
"Don't disappear," Maria said as she handed over the coins, trying—and failing—to sound casual.
Nova smiled, bright and reassuring. "We won't. Promise."
Knox tilted his head, already distracted by the flicker of neon lights inside. "If we do, it'll only be because the machines kidnapped us."
Maria snorted despite herself. "Very funny. I'll be right here when you're done."
She didn't rush them when the time came. she sometimes sat inside the car , pretending to read while secretly watching the entrance when she felt uneasy again leaving them at the arcade. Other times well how it usually was is she will drive back home to make dinner for when they got home food already ready and it was just the right amount of time to pick up the kids (cooking + drive to the arcade since they live quite far she noted).
When the twins finally emerged, eyes bright and voices overlapping, she knew it had been worth it.
"You won't believe this one game—" Nova started.
"No, no, tell her about the high score," Knox cut in eagerly.
Maria smiled, genuinely excited. Whatever their favorite game was that day, she knew she'd hear all about it on the drive home.
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One of those arcade nights stayed with Maria—the way the twins smiled, bright and warm, like sunlight. It was a memory she would always remember.
The arcade smelled of fried pizza, spilled soda, and the faint tang of electricity. Neon lights blinked over rows of machines, screens flashing high scores.
Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will walked in, after parking their bikes. As they entered they noticed them.
Nova stood at the Pacman machine, roller skates on, planted firmly, shifting lightly to balance as she gripped the controls. Knox leaned against the wall, skateboard upright at his feet, casually flipping a coin.
"Whoa… she's insane," Dustin whispered.
"Yeah. I mean we knew they liked playing, but… never said they were crazy good at games," Mike said.
Lucas muttered, impressed, "she's awesome."
Will hung back, clutching the straps of his bag, fascinated. The way she adjusted her weight subtly, focused entirely on the screen, captivated him.
"Okay, that's not fair!" Dustin said. "She's beating the high score!" exclaiming as he now used to be to the top scorer of the game
Nova glanced up briefly. Hearing the exclaim "Practice," she said to herself, Knox just slightly smirked hearing the conversation of the group.
Mike just shook his head at dustin's over exaggeration of upsetness he was currently in, but he couldn't really blame Dustin when they saw that Dustin was knock out of the top five, top 4&5 was knox's score and top 3 upwards was nova's beating her own high score.
Nova finished her round, eyes flicking to Will. A small nod—acknowledged without words. His cheeks warmed.
She skated to the soda counter, leaving knox who was trying to beat his sister's record.
The party was now at the digdug machine taking turns when will excused himself to the bathroom, after finishing he saw nova still at the soda counter and a sudden urge of confidence he never knew had raised and thought 'it was now or never'.
Will walk forward ending up standing next to her, awkwardly. "Uh… hey. I saw you playing, you're really good at it."
"Thanks," Nova said. "Do you play?"
"Uh yeah… but I mostly prefer to just watch sometimes," Will admitted, fiddling with his bag.
"That's fine," Nova said, tilting her head. "Some people enjoys the game more from the sidelines, and that's okay". Nova understood that—not everyone needed to be in the spotlight to have fun.
Knox joined them at the counter. "Hey want me to show you how to rigged that game". He asked Will randomly. Pointing at a random game he figured to rig the day prior.
Nova shook her head. "You're ridiculous, Sorry about him." Will just laughed, amazed at how everything felt natural and how it felt like they knew him like forever, letting him join in the conversation and not excluding or making him feel like the stranger he was to them.
Though the conversation ended up being in a weird one, of Knox's explanation of how he found to rig the game and making Will do it so he could make his friend be amazed at him. And Nova just silently whispered to Will how sometimes she's just fed up with the randomness her twin is sometimes and apologized on his behalf as always to which Will found it funny.
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Will ended up staying glued to them especially her. And the party noticed immediately the moment they saw him walking up next to her, not feeling betrayed of being abandoned by him to go talk to them but pure amusement was seen in their faces and they immediately stared back at each other and ended up abandoning the game and silently having a conversation in which Mike said what he noticed in Will the past week ever since the twin's first day. All of them are already ready with teases when they leave the arcade
And at that night, surrounded by neon lights and the constant hum of arcade machines, Knox and Nova let their guard down. For the first time in a long while where Maria was nowhere close to them, their caution faded, and they felt like the children they were meant to be—especially with the addition of a new friend they had just made.