Page 2 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

“Besides, my grandfather would kill me,” Kayla adds, regarding the tattoos on my knuckles.

Our eyes meet, and we both laugh. It’s a macabre sort of laugh, but you have to laugh to keep from crying. Kayla’s grandfather died years ago. He was a religious and rigid type, probablycontributing to how she turned out her way, and I turned out mine.

“I’ll get you in my chair one day,” I say, then lick some salt off my thumb.

“That sounds like a threat,” Kayla says, looking over her glasses at me.

“It is.”

The door chimes open again. I’m prepared to smile and greet the customer with all the cheeriness I can muster until I see who it is. “Tia,” I say without inflection.

Enter Tia Worthing, mean girl extraordinaire. Sure, it’s been ten years since high school, but I know how to hold a grudge. “Lily,” she says, pasting on an overly bright white smile. Then, she looks at Kayla and her smile falls. “Kayla.”

“Hi, Tia,” Kayla says, her voice fraying nervously.

Everything about Tia is over the top from the auburn-dyed hair to the long painted fingernails. Always has been. She was the most popular girl in school because of her daddy’s bank account. She couldaffordfriends. That also meant that she made a pastime of trampling the rest of us with her snide comments about our clothes and hair, the snickers she shared with her friends, and rumors spread through the school that were near-to-impossible to squelch.

She’s a great reminder of why I left this town.

Tia strides over to the counter. Her beady eyes roll toward the burgers and fries. Obvious disgust twists her lips.

“How is your brother?” she asks Kayla.

“Still hung up on him, Tee?” I ask before taking a huge bite of my burger just to get on her nerves. Tia and Kayla’s older brother, Jackson, dated for a split-second back in high school. Made sense. Track star and popular girl. Of course, when the track star went to college, he didn’t want to be tied down bythe queen bee of a small hive. Tia’s never let Kayla live that one down.

Tia’s cheeks turn as red as her hair. “I’m making pleasant conversation, Lily. You should try it sometime.”

I ignore her. “What can I help you with today? I know my dad doesn’t fill your scripts.”

Tia doesn’t take the bait. She smiles. “As I’m sure you know, the reunion is this weekend.”

I shove some fries in my mouth to keep from groaning.

“And since I’m head of the reunion committee, it’s my job to make sure the guest list is all up to date. And I’m afraid your RSVP was lost in the mail,” Tia says. “I got Kayla’s, but not yours.”

“Oh, sorry, I thought no RSVP was kind of an RSVP,” I reply and fish a can of Diet Coke out of the bag, cracking it open with my thumb and sucking it down.

I can tell my crassness is pissing Tia off, which is the point, of course. It doesn’t matter how ‘good’ you act around her, she’s going to be talking shit about you anyway. So, I’ve always acted as I please around her. At least let the rumors be true that Lily Bolton is a Neanderthal.

“In most cases, yes,” Tia says. Then, she flutters her lashes and pastes on the fakest sympathetic expression I’ve ever seen. “But I thought given the circumstances of your return to Cider Bay, I should give you a personal visit to see if maybe you’d reconsidered.”

I stare at Tia. She stares back. Dammit, she wins this time. I sip my Diet Coke and enjoy the burning sensation down my throat. That’s a welcomed pain compared to the psychic damage Tia’s trying to impress upon me. Lucky for her, I’m weaker than usual.

“I don’t want you to feel . . . embarrassed that you’d be coming alone,” Tia goes on, pasting a hand to her chest.

I tap my fingernail against the top of the can.

“Lily isn’t embarrassed about that,” Kayla speaks up on my behalf, which I know she thinks is helpful but isn’t.

“Of course, she isn’t,” Tia says, so insincerely. “Just . . . no one was more surprised than me when I heard you and Will broke up.”

Hearing his name sends a chill down my spine. Will and I left town together ten years ago. And then I left him in Seattle six months ago. Everyone assumes sinceI’mthe one who returned, I’m the one who got my heart broken.

No, he did a fine job of breaking my heart the whole time we were together. I’m finallyoutof that relationship, and I’m still being haunted by it.

“I mean you were Will and Lil! That’s like a meant-to-be couple name,” Tia giggles.

“Kayla’s right. I’m not embarrassed,” I say, lifting my chin.

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