Page 12 of The Ruse

Instead of saying any of that aloud, I just pasted a smile on my lips and said, “Great. What can I get for you?”

I went around the table, jotting down the orders. Most everyone had been here enough times that they knew what they wanted without looking at the menu—something that happens when you’re from a small town with very few dining-out options.

Cambrielle ordered fajitas, and so I moved on to Elyse who was actually looking at the menu.

“Sorry, I’m not quite ready,” she said, her cheeks flushing slightly under the pressure of the moment. “Can you come back to me?”

“Of course.” I turned to Nash who was at the end of the booth.

“I’ll take the grilled chicken enchiladas,” Nash said.

“Would you like sour cream with that?” I asked.

“Sure.” He handed me his menu in a manner that was very civil.

In fact, our whole exchange so far tonight had been quite civil. Mature.

Maybe we were finally growing up.

But then I noticed the slight clench in Nash’s jaw, and I knew he was simply just on his best behavior for his date. Which made me tempted to sabotage his night somehow. Perhaps I should slip some hot sauce in his horchata as a ‘Did you miss me?’ gesture.

“Chicken enchiladas actually sound really good,” Elyse said, breaking into my thoughts of payback for Nash. “Can I get that as well?”

“With sour cream?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure a girl like her would turn it down. Bailee always had.

Hold the butter. Hold the cheese. Hold the tortilla strips on her sweet pork salad.

I was so sure Elyse would turn down the sour cream that I actually slipped my pen back into my apron, but then she said, “Is it possible to get two sides of sour cream?”

“Um,” I said, slightly shocked by the request. “Sure. We can do that.”

So maybe this new girl was nothing like Bailee.

Which, even though I couldn’t tell anyone, was a refreshing thought.

I told them I’d be back with their complimentary chips and salsa then headed to the computer in the back corner to put in their orders.

As I filled their drinks, I found myself watching my classmates again. The Cohen twins had piqued my curiosity, and though ordering sour cream was a small surprise, I was intrigued by Elyse.

When I’d first met her in the hall before dinner yesterday, she’d seemed friendly—possibly a little shy, like she took time to warm up to people. But then, she also had no problem asking me outright if I’d killed my girlfriend, which told me she could be upfront as well.

She was an identical twin, which was interesting. I didn’t have experience being a twin myself, but after living with my cousins Jace and Logan, who were identical twins, for the past several months, I had noticed that while they enjoyed the ability to confuse their parents and friends about who was who from time to time, they always seemed to secretly hope that they couldn’t pull off the switcheroo—that the people who loved them most would always know them well enough that they couldn’t be tricked.

Which was why I’d made a point to make sure Elyse knew I was separating her from her sister when I’d found out she was a twin yesterday.

Physically, I couldn’t tell Elyse apart from Ava yet, since I’d only met them a day ago. I had only guessed who they were based on who they were sitting by tonight. So I was curious how everyone else was keeping them straight at school. With their long, nut-brown hair down and curled in the same way, they really did look identical—the only noticeable difference was that Ava wore a pink off-the-shoulder sweater with jeans while Elyse had a floral blouse on and a necklace with a tiny gold letter E.

Without the necklace, would Nash be able to tell the two apart? Did he know Elyse well enough—had he studied her enough to pick out the little details that made her unique?

Or did he just like the novelty of dating a twin? Would he have gone after Ava just as easily if she wasn’t already dating his brother?

“The twins are beautiful, aren’t they?” Rosa walked up beside me, nodding toward the cup that I was filling with Dr Pepper and hadn’t realized it had started to overflow.

“What?” I asked, stopping the soda machine and pretending like I hadn’t just been caught staring at Elyse.

Rosa handed me a wet cloth to clean up my mess. “Elyse is a nice girl.”

“I-I’m sure she is,” I said, wiping off the cup before setting it on the counter and rinsing off my hands.

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