The Two Of Us

Disclaimer: Really. Do you think I own Pirates? No. And trust me, if I owned Jack or Will, I would not be spending my time writing fanfics LOL I own nothing except Melissa, Kate, and the plot.

I'm going to try to use a lot of foreshadowing in this fic, just as a hint to everyone. But without further adieu, chapter one!

Chapter One

Kate's felt the warm sun of late May tickle her tan skin. Even though the sun was warm, it was a mild day, only about seventy degrees. But she still thought that it was pretty much a perfect day outside. Maybe it just seemed perfect because of her newfound freedom, or maybe it was just because she was outside shopping in a small downtown area, with two-story brick buildings and a history.

No, Kate knew why it was perfect outside. High school graduation was yesterday. That was why she felt so free. Even if it was cloudy and rainy, she would still feel like nothing could stop her.

She was still tired from last night's party that lasted until the morning. She couldn't remember exactly where she went – she just followed where everyone was telling her the best party was. And, though she intended to have her first drink on graduation night, all of the friends that she had drove in her car were too busy getting drunk and literally dancing on tables or having lampshades on top of their head.

Kate, along with her best friend Melissa, also shopping with her, had graduated from their school with highest honors. Both had to work very hard for it, but now they could go anywhere they chose for college. Melissa had already been accepted to the University of Minnesota and planned to go there for four years to pursue a career as a veterinarian, whereas Kate had shattered her parents dreams of not going to Yale, like both of her parents had gone to. Instead, she opted for a career in modeling, something she had started before her senior year of high school.

She argued that it was a job, a pretty good paying one at that. And if, for some reason, it didn't work out, she had a back-up plan of going to college. Although she was confident it would still keep working for her. That's what she hoped for, anyways.

"Isn't it great out?" Melissa asked, as they walked past the various shops, which included a tattoo shop and about five antique stores.

"Yeah," Kate said. She looked in the clear window of an empty Mediterranean resturaunt and retied her high ponytail, leaving a few brown cheek-length layers hang around her face

"Doesn't it feel weird?" Melissa asked. "We're not in school on a Friday at 11:00. It feels like we're skipping."

"Ah, only we're not," Kate said. "It's much better than that. It's like we're skipping school for the rest of our life. And we don't even have to feel bad about doing it!"

Melissa smiled. Kate loved her smile. Perfectly white, straight teeth that never even needed braces...she envied her so much. Kate's braces had been gone for five years, but she still got a little jealous when someone said that they never had them.

Kate pulled on her blue and white polka-dot tank top over the back of her low-rise dark wash skinny jeans. She felt the wind going against her back, sending a slight chill up her spine.

"Why don't we go in here?" Melissa asked, going into an antique store called Annie's Antiques.

The girls went inside and felt a wave of cool air. Kate didn't want the store to be air conditioned, she was already getting a little cold. She shrugged it off, though.

Kate had always liked antiques. They had a whole story behind them, one that you could never know. She wondered what their history was, why someone gave them up, who was the first one to have them?

They went over to a section with porcelain figurines with a sign above that said, "Please do not touch." Kate knew better than to. She never did touch them. They looked to beautiful to be held, anyway.

One of them was a pair of male/female figurines dressed in a seventeenth-century outfit, both with violins in their hands. It reminded Kate of ones that her grandmother had. She loved looking at them when she was little, and she still did today for unknown reasons. She was not by any means in love with history, either. Maybe it was just the intricacy of it all.

Kate drifted over to the jewelry area while Melissa was still examining the figurines. There were some fake pearls for ten dollars and big rings that she had tried on for fun. They just didn't go with her. Kate had more of what Melissa called a flirty style. All these things were either too classic or too eclectic for her taste, although those pearls were starting to intrigue her. She thought about buying a necklace for her grandma as a birthday present.

"Kate?" Melissa called.

Kate looked up and waved. "Over here."

She nodded, then went back to her figurine area.

Kate picked up a golden necklace and examined it. It had a picture of what appeared to be a skull on the small, round pendant.. She noticed that it was pretty light. She thought it was pretty interesting. No one else would have it.

"No one's looked at that for fifteen years."

Kate looked up at the shop-woman who was talking. She had short blonde hair, and she actually was short all over. She seemed to be about sixty years old. "I'm sorry?"

"That medallion has been there for fifteen years. No one's even looked at it."

Kate found it hard to believe that something that was this beautiful and unique would never have been glanced at.

"A man brought it here in the spring of '92. Said something about an Aztec curse, that it's not supposed to be removed from a chest. Said a curse will come if you wear it. I forget most of it...it was fifteen years ago, and my memory's fading."

She looked down at the medallion. It didn't appear to be cursed.

"I don't believe in curses," Kate said. To her, they only existed in movies and stories you told little children. "How much?"

"For that?" the woman said. "Ten dollars."

Kate didn't know that Melissa was right by her side. "That's so cool!"

"They have another one." She handed it to Melissa. "Here."

Melissa played with the golden medallion in her hand. Kate liked the sound it made. "So it's really cursed?" Melissa asked.

"Don't know. I'm not one for curses myself, I'm just passing on information. Are you going to buy that, dear?"

Melissa looked at her hand and noticed that the medallion was still there, almost as if she thought it would purchase itself. "Oh. Yeah." She handed it to the clerk.

Each of them gave up ten dollars, and in exchange, got their medallion in a small brown bag, stamped with Annie's Antiques on it with the address. They walked back outside into the sunny day.

"Do you believe her?" Melissa asked.

Kate laughed. "No. She was just probably trying to get us to buy something. Why?"

Melissa shrugged. "I don't know."

Silence.

"You don't believe her, do you?" Kate asked.

Melissa let out a small, nervous laugh. "No."

Whatever, Kate thought. Of course Melissa was going to believe in curses. She was the naive, good one. She had a certain innocence and purity about her that made her think that Melissa was the only one who could get away with believing in curses and not be framed as a crazy person.