Through the doorway, Theresa peered out and glared at the entering nobody, without recognition.
"Who's this?" she pressed.
"My twin," Ray answered.
"We don't have any siblings I don't kn-"
Ray gestured to the nobody, whose hands couldn't hide his tears. Theresa nodded and took them both inside.
Theresa set the table, and microwaved the frozen bean pasta. The kind Ray didn't like. Ray gave his fries to the nobody, as promised, and he wiped his eyes so he could start to chow down. When Theresa tried to serve her, he declined.
"I'm good with just the fries," he said.
Theresa stared at the nobody, quizzically. "Hey, a picky eater! Just like you used to be, Ray." She glanced over at him.
Ray did not respond. She handed him the plate, and he started eating.
"Ray." Theresa repeated.
Still, Ray took no notice.
"RAY!" she shouted, pointing straight at him.
He tilted his head. "Are you talking to me?"
The nobody waited for Theresa to figure out the ruse, but she just shrugged.
"Okay," she said, "this is a weird phase, but whatever." She rolled her eyes.
The nobody buried his face in his knees for a moment, unable to contain his frustration. Then he remembered why he was here: to get the birth certificate, and prove his identity once and for all. But honestly, did he even want it anymore? Or was the life of Raimundo Radigan better off in this other boy's hands?
Theresa microwaved some frozen peas, and handed them to the nobody. He ate them reluctantly – he'd always preferred her food cooked traditionally. They even tasted wrong.
Theresa started making the garlic bread, with peanut oil, garlic, and basil on top, and vegan cheese sauce on the side.
"Why not use that bread to make a sandwich?" Ray asked. "Or just use butter, instead of that weird oil."
"Because it's a side, and because we haven't used real butter in Canadia for centuries- wait." Theresa paused, and looked over the two, nearly identical young teens. A look of realization dawned on her, and she gasped.
"Ray!" she called out.
"Yes?" the nobody answered, hanging on the edge of his seat.
"Did you get split into two people?! Was it a wizard?! A genie?! ALIENS?!"
"Probably!" said Ray, through a mouthful of pasta.
The nobody dropped his head on the table and groaned.
Theresa chuckled. "I was just kidding, kid. Jeez. Learn to take a joke." Theresa paused again. "What did you say your name was?"
"It doesn't matter," said the walking unentity. The absolute nothingness of a person. "Even if I get my stupid birth certificate, nobody will believe me anyway."
"Hey, where's MY birth certificate?" Ray whined. "I wanna be born, too!"
Theresa grinned, "You already were born, dumbass. Whaddyou need it for, anyway?
"I wanna see it now!" he demanded.
"Alright, alright, jeez. What a big rush you're in." She went to her room, and came back a few minutes later with a laminate envelope. Inside was a plastic card, with a metal rectangular frame on the lower right corner.
"What's that metal part for?" Ray asked.
She squinted at him. "You already know, it's the fingerprint scanner. Remember?"
She handed the card to Ray, and watched him press his entire hand to it.
"N-no, Ray, fingerprint. Not handprint. When did you get so stupid?" She watched him try again and again, in all kinds of ridiculous positions. "Just put the tip of your thumb on it!!"
He did so, and it beeped red. He did it again, and it beeped red again. Over and over, his thumbprint was denied. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"What..." Theresa was suddenly alarmed.
The nobody took the certificate, and instead of putting his thumb on it, he decided to read the name. "Raimundo Radigan, born January 27th, 5522. Born in New Prezzo, British Alberta, in United Canadia." He put the card down, making sure not to touch the sensor. "That's quite the life you've got there, Ray. I hope for your sake, you don't waste it."
Theresa stared, trying to figure out what was happening right now. She looked... disturbed.
The nobody took the paper bag from the fries, and put it in the trash. Then he swept the crumbs off his shirt, and thumb-pointed for the door. "Well, I'd better get going. I've got a long walk back to school."
Theresa said, "I can drive you, kid."
The nobody shook his head. "Nah, don't... worry about it. I need to learn to rely on myself a little more, like Ray here. Not in a lonely, obstinate way, but by pulling my own weight, and being present for my own life. He's taught me a lot, to be honest. I'll never forget-"
BLEEP! The nobody looks down in horror at his thumb, which has just beeped green on the birth certificate.
The boy, leaned over to stretch the card over to him, asks, "How come yours gives you a nicer tone and color? Why does it like you more?"
The nobody looks at Theresa, whose eyes read like shock. 'Ray' has just thrown away everything, on a stupid whim, to see if a card would beep. And he, the validated one, has just been caught trying to leave his entire life to somebody else.
'Ray' tries it again and again, back to his own thumb. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! "Fuckin' thing, it's only giving me that other color. What's that called? The shouty one."
"Shut up!!" Theresa shouted. She grabbed a metal spatula, and pointed it at the red and white twins. "Which one of you is Raimundo?"
Neither of them put up their hands.
"Okay, let me rephrase that: which one of you is my actual sibling?"
Both of them put up their hands. The nobody looks at 'Ray', confused.
"What? If we're twins, that makes her my sister, too."
Theresa bangs the spatula against the table with a WHAP! "LAST QUESTION: Which one of you little SHITS used to steal my hairbrush every morning before I had to go to work?"
The nobody put up his hand. The one whom everyone saw as a girl, in the dirty white tee, and plaid red pants.
"Then who the HELL is THAT?!" she screamed, at the sharp-smiled boy finishing his plate of pasta.
"I'm Raimundo Radigan, nice to meet you!" he said, extending his hand for a shake.
She froze, and stared at him for a long time. She looked at her hairbrush thief, then at her pasta patron. The nobody shrugged, and gave a head gesture, like the one he'd been given on the way in. Then she sighed, and reluctantly shook 'Ray's' hand.

A week later, back at the office... the Radigans sat in Mr. Carisol's office. On one side of Theresa, the red-hooded Ray, in dark grey jeans and matching red slip-ons. He'd recently gotten a new one, of a cherry hue. Its hood was stylishly elongated, meant to look like a windsock. But the fabric was a bit stiff, and it looked bent and crooked. It was some kind of spiritual symbol, but it had been commercialized for at least a full millennia, according to Bickerpedia. Just like the necklace he bought, with the spiraling 'G'. On the other, the black-hooded Rex, in washed-out jeans and black skater shoes, with high ankles. Both hoods were down, and had been for the last week... they'd spent it together as a family, and there was no need to hide. Except from the mashed potatoes, in the food fight they had two days ago. Ray's pants still smelled a little bit like vegan gravy.
Mr. Carisol slammed down a stack of paperwork on his desk, across from Theresa. "Fill this out by September, and we'll have Rex enrolled for the eighth grade this fall. And this one," he continued, "is just a little form to change Ray's biological sex, from male to 'other'. It is ever so hard to catch these things from birth, sometimes, and forgive me – I'm no medical professional. I've only known you for the past year."
'(Not well enough you could tell me and my clone apart),' Ray grumbled.
Theresa elbowed him. '(Everyone can hear you.)'
Mr. Carisol cleared his throat. "And about your dorm, I believe one just... opened up, may he rest in peace."
My jaw hung loose. "You're putting me in JODD'S old room?! The boy who DIED outside of my OLD one?!"
Mr. Carisol, or as his nameplate stated, Carson Carisol, stacked some papers in his hand. "Are you worried about spirits, Mr. Radigan?"
Ray slow-blinked. "Just put me in my old room, and give the dead boy's dorm to the guy who literally couldn't care less. It's objectively the smarter decision."
Ol' Carson narrowed his eyes at Ray.
Theresa's went wide, and she gritted her teeth. '(Are you trying to get suspended?!)' she hissed.
Carson looked at Ray, sitting politely with his hands in my lap, and then at Rex, playing on the chair and trying to make it balance on two legs. Then crashing to the floor, and spilling a bowl of mints all over himself.
He nodded, very slowly. "Yes... yes, I see your point. Perhaps that would be best. Though you'll need to stay with your sister, if that's alright, for the time being. To tell the truth, I was simply trying to avoid having to fix all the, um... holes in the wall. Until next year. I simply assumed that Rex would remain there, and... continue making them."
Theresa was confused. "Do you want me to PAY for that, or-"
Carson shook his head, and put up his hand. "No need, Ms. Radigan, it's all covered by the state. We've had worse, I assure you. But repairs will take at least two weeks... the damage is, unfortunately, quite extensive. The bite marks alone are going to cost a small penchance in drywall patching."
Everyone looked at Rex, who was busy unwrapping mints to shove into his mouth simultaneously. "I'm a growing boy!" he said, enthusiastically.
Theresa shook her head, and put her arm around me to razz me a bit. "Don't worry, I'll drive Ray to school. We could use a bit more time to catch up, anyway."
Ray nodded, smiling pleasantly.
Theresa then leaned her head on hers, and said with some restrained anger through gritted, grinning teeth, "...and we can talk about how you tried to run away from home, and leave me with a complete stranger for a younger sibling. For the rest of my life."
Ray stopped nodding, face expressionless.
Carson slid a form across the desk, along with two new student ID cards: one for Rex, and one for Ray. This time, the pictures were in color, and next to the old one, it was clear how much Ray had changed... and how similar Rex looked to how he had been. Although a bit older, of course.

Theresa took the stack into her hands, gave both twins a hug, and went back to her truck. She waved to them as she left, back for home to sort things out. Ray and Rex stepped outside. Each had been given a second chance, and a brand new life, in their own unique way. They may look like twins, but the two of them couldn't be more different. And they were better off for it, for each had something to learn from and teach to the other.
"So," Rex pondered, "what does it mean that you're an 'other'?"
Ray shrugged. "It means I'm not who I thought I was, I guess. And I was threatened by that, because it's exactly who you are that I was trying to be."
"Yeah, I'd make a better me any day," he laughed.
"Only because I'm dropping out of the race," Ray elbowed him.
"I could get better, I'd just have to eat someone else's soul. Jodd was DUMB." he answered proudly.
Ray stared at him. "What?"
"Yeah, well, I was all wild before, and I can't even remember my life before last week. But I'm scrounging around, looking for snacks, and I find this dead body in a bathroom!"

Ray's head felt like it was spinning, and he wanted to puke. To run. "You didn't...?"
"Nah, I didn't kill him. I just touched his head, and all these sparks started flying! Like, WHOAH, DUDE! I passed out, and I woke up, and I knew everything he knew!" He grinned wide, with his doglike teeth shining in the dawn. "Isn't that neat? I think it only works on dead people. See?" He puts his hand on Ray's head, and nothing happened. "Yeah, nada. I'll just wait until you're dead, I guess!"
Ray stared ahead, in horror. Rex was twice as brutal as he'd ever be.

After a bit more talking, Rex ran off, to meet his friends Darnell and Yembe. Loretta sat nearby, and read out some kind of kissing schedule drawn up for Rex's love triangle with the two girls. Then Rex surprised them all, by kissing Darnell instead. Then everybody was just... publicly displaying their affections with one another. Wow, that got weird fast. Then Rex pulled away, having become bored of the 'game' that they were playing. Darnell started talking about his life, and Rex looked for the first time like he was at a loss. He didn't have anything to talk about, for there was not a single memory in his rattled mind which strung together into a finished moment. So Ray walked over, to fill Rex in on his. For a boy without a past, it was the least Ray could do... to share some of his own. And hopefully, by consequence, a future.