ever hear of twins? {matt}

[LIZZIE SPENCER]

Lizzie loved everything about Central Park. She was a particular fan of the gardens, of course, but she immensely enjoyed taking her time exploring every area. Whether it was each playground or hidden corners at the reservoir or visiting her favorite animals at the zoo. Lizzie spent a lot of her wandering-around-New-York time at Central Park. She found something new every day! (Well, sort of. She’d seen a few things more than twice that she thought were new every time. She could be a bit forgetful).

Today was like any other day at Central Park. A lovely Saturday, bright and sunny with big fluffy clouds in the sky. It was the perfect temperature and the wind was just breezy enough. AND! She’s brought a nice little picnic lunch with her! Oh, it would be the best Saturday ever. Then, she’d go say hello to all of the flowers at the gardens and maybe she’d make a quick trip to the zoo. Everything just sounded so wonderful. Sometimes she had trouble making up her mind.

Meandering down a path slowly, taking in the sights, Lizzie let out a content sigh. She started to play with her hair, not realizing that she was making it messy and tangled. It was a wonder how her hair could get so tousled from something as simple as a fluff or a twirl. As if that weren’t bad enough, her necklace was on the wrong way. At least she’d managed to dress herself well enough that people weren’t giving her odd looks. Why, just the other day, she’d had a stranger comment on her inside out top. That had been embarrassing.

Lizzie paused, her attention briefly directed at a large tree to her right. It was very pretty; the leaves had changed for the fall. She’s always loved the changing colors of the leaves. Lizzie squinted, thinking maybe she’d seen some movement high up in the tree. But… no, that was just silly. Trees weren’t for people to be in. With a shrug, Lizzie continued on her way, hoping to find a perfect spot for her picnic.

outfit

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

It was days like these that made going to the park all too easy. If there was no wind, what was he supposed to pretend was a monster, trying to shake him from his perch in the trees just by breathing on him? If there were no rainclouds, how was he supposed to convince himself there was a storm ‘abrewing? Real life was stupid.
Matt had been stretched out on this tree branch for over an hour now, staring up at the sky and wondering how on earth so many clouds could possibly manage to look like platypuses captaining pirate ships over the course of just one single day. Why, if he didn’t know any better (and truly, he didn’t) he might have thought it was simply the exact same cloud doing circles over his head just to mess with him, knowing just how bored he was today. Had he the proper equipment for cloud-catching, he told himself, he would easily have gone all the way up there and taught them a lesson. Alas, he was stuck far too near the ground with little more to do than pretend he had something to pretend to do, which was a lot harder than it seemed like it should be.

It was just as he began pondering (or well, got as close to pondering as someone like Matt possibly could) that he saw it. Or her. Out the corner of his eye, it was a slight movement, but by the time he’d turned to look, the person—or devil, what have you—was unmistakable. Macy Lou. The one girl Matt detested with all his heart (which was saying an awful lot, as he thought he had quite the soft spot for females). The idiotic, butt-nosed, buck-toothed snotty little princess from study hall who’d very near cost him Addie’s friendship. Crimes like that were unforgivable. Crimes like that, even if unsuccessful, needed to be punished.

Instantly, Matt was on the move. His entire body was concentrated on moving down the tree branch by branch, not-so-careful to not make a sound (being perfectly quiet would have been cheating, obviously. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it, if he really wanted to). Cat-like in his landing, Matt had to speed walk to catch up with the girl. Once he was but a pace behind her, however, Matt poked her sharply on the shoulder. Throat-clearing just wasn’t his thing. Although Addie’d probably get mad if he didn’t, even if this was Sandy Dan he was confronting…He added a short, curt something between a gargle and an authoritative clucking of the tongue before crossing his hands over his chest and shifting, feet now shoulder-width apart and eyes narrowed considerably.
“Whattaya think you’re doing here?”

[LIZZIE SPENCER]

Not to far ahead of where she was on the path, Lizzie could see the absolute perfect spot for a picnic. It was just marvelous and she couldn't believe her luck; there was nobody there! It was going to be all hers to enjoy. It was a rather small clearing within the trees, certainly no place for a big family to have a picnic. However, she was on her own and she could enjoy the sunny patch of grass whereas younger children would be too busy running around to care.

That was why she ignored what sounded like the rustling of leaves from the tree she'd just been admiring. If she'd been paying more attention, Lizzie would have realized that it was a bit too noisy for such a not-so-windy day. However, she was set on claiming the spot further ahead and so she paid no mind to the noises. It wasn't until there was a sharp jab on her shoulder that she stopped walking. Now, she'd been victim to the tapping one shoulder only to have somebody on her other side; in fact, she fell for it every time.

Today was no different. Lizzie turned to look and... well! There was somebody there. She grinned, pleased to see it hadn't been some joke. Just as she was about to say something -- what, she wasn't quite sure -- the boy had spoken. And it wasn't very polite. Her eyebrows came together in confusion and she tilted her head. "Excuse me?" She asked, not understanding at all. "I wasn't aware that the park was off limits to anybody."

Goodness, every time she'd been here and there was some sort of rule as to who could be at Central Park and who couldn't.

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

If she thought she was being clever, she really had something coming. Stupid, and just like a girl, thinking she could outsmart him, of all people in the whole world. She really was as dumb as she looked.

Matt didn’t give so much as half an inch as he stared down the girl before him, completely ignoring the tiny buzzing in the back of his head telling him that maybe, just this once, he might be wrong. The voice was stupid, though, and should really have learned by now that Matt had never been wrong about anything a day in his life. Not once. Not ever. And he certainly wasn’t going to be breaking that streak of perfection now.

“You heard me,” he spoke in what he clearly thought was quite the menacing tone, “I asked what you were doin’ here, right now, in this part of the park. Because the likes of you definitely aren’t allowed places fun like this—anyone with half a brain knows that, ya nicklepoop.”

So, perhaps his guidance counselor’s correction hadn’t quite stuck. Such things never did, unless it was Addie doing the mending.

Jabbing a finger in Matt’s direction, he leaned a bit closer to the girl who he was one-thousand-and-seventy-two-HUNDERED percent sure was his Mortal Enemy with a capital ME and jabbed his finger at the space right between her eyes, although he didn’t quite hit her. Not until she did something really awful.

“So c’mon, Mary Anne,” he practically spat out her name, “tell me—were you stalking me?”

[LIZZIE SPENCER]

If she stood here much longer, her picnic spot would be snatched up by somebody else. Lizzie could absolutely not let that happen. Maybe if she could just have whoever this boy was join her and then they could talk? She still wasn’t sure what he was going on about. If there really was a rule about who could be in Central Park and who couldn’t… well, she was sure she was on the Could list. Park regulars had to be on the Could list. It just wouldn’t be fair otherwise.

Why, of course she’d heard him. Her hearing was perfectly fine. Lizzie nodded and waited patiently for him to continue. He seemed irritated and the last thing she wanted was to annoy him any further. “Well…” she started slowly, glancing back to where she’d been headed. “I was going to have a picnic…” She raised her arm, the hand holding the basket. Lizzie was almost upset that he was being so rude to her – she hadn’t done anything! Right? Right. This wasn’t the time to be doubting herself. (And what on Earth was a nicklepoop?)

Lizzie stepped back just a bit when he pointed at her, almost hitting her between the eyes. “Ex-excuse me…” she stammered, now more confused than she could ever remember being. It took her a moment after he’d spoken but then it hit her all at once. “Oh!” she exclaimed before bursting into a fit of giggles. How often had people confused her for Mary Anne? Much, much too often and yet she hadn’t grown tired of it yet. It was almost interesting to see how people felt about her sister and even more so when they found it she was in fact not Mary Anne.

“I’m not—” Lizzie shook her head and took a second to calm down. “I’m not Mary Anne.” And she certainly wasn’t stalking him – in fact, Lizzie was sure Mary Anne wouldn’t be stalking him either. “I’m Lizzie. Mary Anne’s my sist—twin sister.” Because just saying sister wouldn’t make it clear enough. Sisters didn’t look exactly like each other but twin sisters did. (…Well, that was an obviously obvious statement). “I’m sorry to have confused you,” Lizzie said, smiling and now hoping that they were done so she could get back to what she was at the park for.

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

Oh, she thought she was clever, didn’t she? Ha! As though she’d ever be able to out-think him. Matt was clever, far more clever than she was, and he knew that somewhere, deep down in her heart of hearts that was probably stone cold and rotten and full of healthy food, she knew it too. Which was probably why she was pretending she didn’t know what he was talking about. Stupid, stupid girl. He saw straight through her and out the other side, just as he had when they’d first met and he’d scowled at her all the way through the introduction. Matt was very dedicated to his perceptions of people, if nothing else.

“Bah. Sure you were,” he mocked her without remorse, sing-song voice ringing across the park. The basket may have been ordinary looking, but Matt was well aware that inside, it contained countless spy tools she’d been planning to use to hunt down his every move for the remainder of the day. Nothing would get by him. Absolutely nothing. He, Matthew Peterson, was the superest super sleuth of all, and he was determined to make this fraud see who she truly was. She was evil, right through to her core. And even if her core had been good, it wouldn’t have much mattered, because everyone knew the core was the worst part of apples and pears anyway, so what really counted was the outside, and he knew perfectly well of the rottenness of Mary Anne’s skin. She was practically crawling with worms and mold. Oh, he’d teach her not to mess with him ever again.

Hmm. Maybe she was a bit better than he’d given her credit for. She was keeping the whole thing up, after all, even with his finger so dangerously close to her eyeballs. That took some serious nerve. When she began to laugh, Matt scowled, drawing his hand away and bunching it into a fist.

“What?!” There was nothing he hated more than jokes he didn’t get.

“Of course you’re Mary Anne! You’ve got the same hair and everyth—oh,” he stopped mid accusation, eyes popping wide open with realization. It was a fast recovery, however, and soon a genuine smile was on his face. There was no way Mary Anne could possibly pull off a lie that good, pretending to be her own twin sister, so obviously this Lizzie girl had to be telling the truth.

Instead of offering a hand to shake, Matt proceeded with his new favorite form of introductory greeting: a salute. “I’m Matt,” he continued without missing a beat, indignation lacing his voice. “And I knew you weren’t Mary Anne! I was just testing you, see, ‘cause I’m a…guard. Yeah. I guard this part of the park, and people with two names for one and stupid personalities aren’t allowed through here, ya see, and so…yeah. I had to make sure—triple sure, because I was already double sure before I even saw you up close—that you weren’t her. You know, just in case.” he nodded, arms crossed over his chest. Oh, he was a wonderful liar. How clever was he!

“What kinda food ya bring?” curiously, he peered towards the picnic basket, unable to help himself.

[LIZZIE SPENCER]

Well, he didn’t seem very trusting, did he? Lizzie was sure anybody else would’ve believed her. What was suspicious about a picnic basket? Then again… there had been those awful Siamese cats from the Lady and the Tramp movie. They’d be in a picnic looking basket and they’d been downright mean. Thank goodness her kitten was sweet as cotton candy… if not a bit messy. “I really am, though,” she said earnestly, ready to show him if she had to. That reminded her, though, that she did have cold drinks in here and if she didn’t hurry up, they’d soon be… well… not cold. And not cold drinks were her least favorite drinks.

At first, he seemed all the angrier but then he realized and she breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t seem surprised for long like most people did. In fact, he was smiling just a moment after. That was a much better reaction than she could’ve hoped for (she’d actually be accused of making the whole twin thing up and at that point, she had deemed that person as a lost cause). “Besides,” she started suddenly, remembering her necklace. Lizzie lifted it up and realized it was backwards… oops. “My necklace is an L. Not an M… or M-A.” How would that have worked, anyway?

She wasn’t quite sure how to respond to a salute, so she decided to just curtsy since a handshake evidently wasn’t happening. Matt… the name wasn’t familiar. Then again, Mary Anne usually didn’t refer to people who got on her nerves by name. …A guard? Well, that was new. She’d never heard of Central Park guards. Lizzie laughed until it hit her that he was insulting her sister; the guilt that came from that quelled her laughter. Clearing her throat, Lizzie smiled, finding it all the better that he’d known all along that she wasn’t Mary Anne. He had just been doing his job. “Well, Guard Matt, since you’re doing such a splendid job, I think you deserve some lunch.”

Her suggestion came just before his question so it all worked out quite well. “Two sandwiches and some fruit and a few drinks.” Lizzie said, looking into the basket to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. “Oh! And dessert.” Lizzie lowered the basket and smiled before gesturing to her perfect picnic spot. “Would you care to join me?”