NEW LIFE : A SECOND CHANCE

Kay looked at the strange building in front of her.

For the first time, she was going to do something all by herself. Kyle had always been by her side, either providing support physically or emotionally.

This time, she was starting school in an entirely new place, without him.

It wasn't just Kyle, but the other Elite Five guys as well. They had always been there for her, with her; shielding her from most of the talks and stares of people. Kyle may have been the magnet that brought people to them, but it was the other three that filtered the 'bad' ones out.

She didn't know a single soul in this new place. All of her friends (what little she had) were all still schooling in secondary school.

The building in front of her was University Maya, one of the top Universities for its Business and IT Faculty.

Kay had taken her DSE last year as well, for she wanted to be at the same level as Kyle when he came back. She couldn't imagine how bad it'd be for her to still be in college if Kyle had already graduated? She would not be able to go back and be by his side to help, right?

She could do this.

The College she had chosen was quite far away from home. Initially, Patrick had been against her going there, but he couldn't really find a good reason since it was a prestigious institution.

In the end, he compromised but essentially, Kay was living in a house with maids and bodyguards.

Patrick did this for two reasons.

One, to assure himself that Kay would be well taken care of. Two, to keep an eye out for Kyle. He couldn't believe that Kyle would actually not be in contact with his twin sister, bearing in mind how inseparable those two had been since their birth.

The number of resources Patrick put into finding and keeping an eye out for Kyle was piling up and Patrick was getting more and more frustrated as time went by. Kyle was still nowhere to be seen.

As for Kay, she knew what her father was doing but she didn't take it to heart. After all, having the people around her undoubtedly was a huge help for she didn't need to clean or cook. All she needed to do was just study.

Who wouldn't like that, right?

She smirked as she thought of how closely her father was keeping an eye on her. Her emails were being monitored and traced. Her phone was bugged. Like Sam, she pretended she did not know - although she was a bit annoyed at the invasion of privacy.

Well, at least he wasn't reading her emails nor listening to her phone conversations. He had a little bit of some semblance of integrity. For that, she grudgingly gave him some respect. For his tenacity, too.

He could bug her all he wanted, but he would never get anything out of her regarding Kyle. After all, they shared the mental hotline.* She wasn't even feeling guilty for keeping him in the dark about Kyle.

After all, he was the one that had gone overboard so he should suffer a bit. In truth, she didn't resent him but she wasn't going to make it easier for him either.

Right now, she had her own battles to fight.

College.

Taking a deep breath, she took that step to go forward.

Despite her first instinct to mentally call out to Kyle, she did not do so.

This was something both of them decided they needed to do. The connection was there, but they actively cut themselves off during the day. At night, they still reached out and talked, sharing about their days.

They were twins, so it was impossible to cut themselves off completely. Kay felt that if they had done so, she would die. Literally. It made her fear for the day if - or when - one of them should go first, the one left behind wouldn't be able to cope.

So this was a good first step ... not that she wanted to think about it. Even agreeing to this had been hard.

? Flashback ?

[You can't be serious] Kay grumbled [What's the point of being gifted with this ability if you're going to limit it?!]

Kyle sighed as he stood by the window, looking out.

[You know that this is for the best, Kay. We're linked so closely and depend on each other so much that it can't be healthy. If we're going to do this, we have to do this properly]

[No!] Kay wailed, punching her pillow. It was night time for her, though it was morning for Kyle.

[It's not fair. I only get to talk to you at night but you can talk to me in the morning. You won't feel it as badly as I would]

Kyle closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on the cold window.

He could hear the despair in her voice. Luckily, the distance cut off their emotional connection, so Kay couldn't use it to guilt trip him even more.

This was one of Kyle's weaknesses. He would do things for his loved ones without thinking, forgetting that they were more than old enough to do it themselves. People call it spoiling them rotten but for Kyle (then, Kylie), it had been something she did naturally without thinking.

She had to consciously stop herself.

The problem persisted into this life.

[Believe me, Kay, it would be just as hard for me. To hear what you had gone through and not being able to do anything about it tears me apart]

[So why limit our talks? Just ...]

[Kay ...]

[Fine. Fine] Kay cut him off [Whatever you say]

She had been so annoyed at him persisting in this matter that she had cut their conversation short. Till now, she regretted that childish action, for she suffered tremendously afterwards. Kyle wouldn't respond to her call until it was nighttime.

?.?.?.?