Page 9 of Our Secret Moments

“Is this the part in the movie where the guy tells someone to shut up and he kisses them instead? If it is, I’d like to kindly decline.”

“Oh my god. Can you shut up for two seconds, you oaf,” I groan, pushing him with my shoulder as I try to walk closer to the sound.

“Hey, you know how sensitive I am to that word right now,” he whines. Sometimes I feel like shoving my head in a bathtub full of water and then I think I probably shouldn’t. But the urge gets stronger and stronger the more and more I speak with this guy.

We both come to a stop when we walk around the corner, the light brown stone walls caging us in the small corridor and I see her.

It’s hard to miss Catherine Fables. Especially when she’s all I fucking see sometimes. I immediately know that it’s her against the wall, her fingers flying over her phone in her hand as she wipes her face with her jumper.

Wes tries to walk, but I stop him, holding my arm out. “Is she fucking crying?” he asks, his voice quiet. Oh, so now he wants to be quiet. Great.

“It’s hard to tell,” I say, trying to keep my voice as low as possible. “Lemme go and talk to her. Stay here.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” Wes grumbles.

I smooth my sweaty palms over my jeans as I start to walk towards her. She’s clearly the one going through something, so I don’t exactly know why I feel nervous. She looks up at me as I reach her in five long steps.

“Hey, are you… Are you okay?” I ask, shoving my hands in my pockets. She blinks up at me, her face shining with tears, those beautiful eyes staring right into mine. She runs her hands down her skirt quickly.

“I’m fine,” she says, smiling, wafting her hand in the air.

“Are you, or are you just doing that girl thing where they say they’re fine but they’re really not fine?” I ask, tilting my head to the side. She laughs a little.

“No, I’m actually fine. I just got my grade for my last assignment. I’m just being emotional about it,” she says, giving me a noncommittal shrug as half an answer. When I don’t say anything, still staring at her trying to gauge her reaction, she says, “I was freaking out about it, but I did really well. So, I’m happy.”

“That’s really good, Cat. You should be proud,” I say, playfully nudging her shoulder. Her whole face lights up, her nose scrunching in the most adorable way.

“Thank you. Rotford said I should begrateful,not proud. Whatever that means,” she mumbles. She drops her gaze to the ground and it takes all that I am not to lift her chin up to get her to look at me and speak to me. “Anyway. I’m going to get a celebratory packet of chips from the vending machine. Do you want one?”

I gasp, holding my hand to my chest. “Are you suggesting that you’re going to get me a bag of chips out of the kindness of your heart?”

“You know what? Forget it. I was just trying to be nice since you were nice to me, but it seems like you prefer–”

I cut her off with a laugh. “It’s okay. I’ve got to go find Nor anyway. Do you know where she is?”

“If she’s not in the theatre room, maybe check the studio,” Cat says. “She said she had rehearsals this morning, but you never know with her.”

As I expected, Nora wasn’t in either of those places.

Instead, I spotted her in an empty classroom on the other side of campus to the Arts building making out with her boyfriend. Ryan Valla is a nice guy. He always has been and he’s perfect for Nora. They’re both theatre majors and some of the duets they’ve done have actually brought me to tears. Their chemistry on and off stage is palpable, but having to witness my twin sister make out with him is where I draw the line.

“That guy is such a prick,” Wes grumbles. I look down at him as he watches through the door into the classroom, grimacing.

“He’s fine and you know he is. Cut it out,” I say, pushing him out the way.

“Fine? That guy looks like a Ken doll with a stupid British accent,” he says, squaring his eyes at him. I chuckle, knowing that the British part is right. He spent two summers in London and he acts like he was born and raised there.

“Sounds like you’re jealous, dude.”

“I’m not,” he growls. “I just don’t see howhecan satisfyher.Especially if they’re sleeping together. Nora is—”

“Okay, okay. Your work here is done. I’ve found her so you can leave now,” I say, shaking my head at whatever thoughts this guy has about my sister.

He pins his arms against his chest, leaning against the door. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Fine. Do you want me to tell Archer?” I watch as his face grows pale. We’ve seen Archer angry one time and it was enough to scare the living daylights out of him. And me too.

I finally push open the door as Wes falls backwards right onto his ass. I laugh as I step over him, watching my sister scramble apart from her boyfriend. His hand was getting way too far up her skirt for my likings and in a goddamn classroom for God sake. I don’t know when she started to become the reckless one out of the two of us, but it’s not a good look.

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