The driver keeps glancing at me through the rearview mirror like she expects me to suddenly become interesting.
"I'm just saying," she says again, fluffing her hair with one hand while the other stays loosely on the steering wheel, "guys like you don't usually come around this area. It's nice seeing a new face."
"Hmm." That's all I give her.
She doesn't seem to notice how little effort I'm putting into the conversation. Or maybe she does and just doesn't care. Her eyes flick to the mirror again, checking her lipstick, then back to the road. The car smells like vanilla air freshener and something sweet, maybe gum.
She keeps talking anyway and I want to claw my eyes out of the socket. People like her can't read moods for shit.
"So you visiting someone?" she asks, dragging the last word out.
I watch the city slide past the window instead of answering right away. Tall buildings, coffee shops, this place looks busy.
"Yeah," I finally say. "My sister."
"Ohh," she says, sounding way more excited about that than she should. "That's sweet. Family visit."
I don't respond and my attention drifts back to the window..The truth is my mind isn't in this car at all. It's already at Ellie's place, my twin. Two weeks, I think.
That's how long I'm staying with her. Just two weeks for semester break and when I suggested it, she sounded surprised but happy, like she didn't expect me to actually choose her.
Ellie lives off campus. Our parents rented her a big apartment not far from her university. Apparently it's their way of letting her "learn independence." Their words, not mine. For Ellie, it means freedom from our parents overdoting. Her own place and her own rules.
For me, it means distance from my own campus. From that constant noise of practice fields and lecture halls and the never-ending pressure of trying to survive a degree in athletic training. When I first picked the major, it sounded simple enough. Heck, I just picked anything because my parents wouldn't let me be. So the major sounded like train har, learn about sports and help athletes improve.
Easy. Yeah, right. Fucking hell, it turns out to be a lot more than that. There's anatomy, and injury prevention, physical therapy theory, and endless exams about muscles I didn't even know existed. Half the time I feel like my brain is being squeezed dry. So when this semester break came around, getting away sounded perfect. Even if it meant staying with Ellie.
The car slows a little, and the driver glances at me again.
"Your sister goes to Herthrow, right?" she asks casually.
I nod. "Yeah."
Herthrow University. One of the biggest schools in the country. On the website, it got huge campus, thousands of students, football games that fill entire stadiums. It's everything.
Ellie fits there. She always has. She's the kind of person who makes friends everywhere she goes. The kind of girl that belongs in big places with loud crowds and endless opportunities where everyone loves her and all.
Our parents live about forty minutes away from her campus. Close enough to visit if they want to, but not so close that they hover over her every day. With Ellie, iya different, like they actually respect giving her space. Meanwhile, my university is nowhere near any of them. It's a different state and city with a long drive that no one feels like making often. Sometimes it feels like I live on another planet.
The driver finally turns into a quieter street lined with tall apartment buildings. I see some students move in and out of the entrances.
"We're almost there," she says.
I nod again, sitting up a little. Somewhere in one of these buildings is Ellie. And for the next two weeks, that place is supposed to be home. Whether I like it or not.
"Is the address right?" the driver asks again.
She squints at the phone clipped to the holder on her dashboard, frowning like it personally offended her. Her hair is bright ginger, thick with curls that bounce around her shoulders every time she moves. It reminds me of that girl from Brave, wild and impossible to ignore.
"Because if it is," she adds, leaning forward a little and peering through the windshield, "I think that's it up ahead."
I lean forward in my seat and look past the glass.
The building sitting at the end of the short driveway definitely looks like the kind of place parents rent when they want their kid to be "independent" but still comfortable. It's a large off-campus student apartment house, three floors high with pale brick walls and tall windows. A small balcony runs along the second floor, crowded with mismatched chairs and a couple of dying potted plants. Bikes are chained to the metal railing near the entrance, and a few students are sitting on the front steps talking loudly.
It doesn't look cheap. Wow..mom and Dad tried. Actually, it looks… really nice.
Not that they wouldn't have given me my own place if I'd asked. They probably would have tried. But in the end they would've said no anyway. According to Dad, I "lack human relations" which apparently means I don't know how to deal with people.
I still don't know what that's supposed to mean. I'm doing fine in college. I go to class. I pass my exams. I even have friends.
Okay, two friends. But still. That counts. James and John.
Yeah, I know. It sounds like they walked straight out of the Bible or something. I swear they're just normal guys who happen to share an apartment near campus. Somehow we ended up sticking together during our first year.
And after… what happened…They let me stay with them.
The memory creeps up before I can stop it, like a shadow sliding under a door.
I shake my head quickly and look away from the building. No. I'm not doing that again.
I can't spend every second of my life replaying that day in my head. That's insane. It's been two months already. Two whole months and the memory still shows up whenever it feels like it.
I press my tongue against the inside of my cheek and breathe slowly. I'm not living like that. I refuse to. If one more thought about that day pushes its way into my head, I might actually lose my mind.
"We're here!" the driver announces brightly.
The car rolls to a stop near the sidewalk.
I push the door open and step out, the late afternoon air hitting my face. It's warmer than I expected. I reach into the back seat, grab my travel bag, and sling the strap over my shoulder.
The car engine hums behind me.
"Have a wonderful visit, hottie!" the driver calls out.
I glance back.
She's leaning toward the open window now, chin resting on her hand as she watches me with an amused grin, curls spilling everywhere. She's really trying. The smile, the tone, the little head tilt like she expects me to flirt back or something.
Too bad she's barking up the wrong tree
I give a small, awkward wave.
Then I turn toward the building where my sister lives and start walking.
Apartment 5C. I am at Ellie's door now and I don't hesitate to knock twice.
While I wait, my mind drifts to her.
Ellie and I have always been close. That's usually how it goes with twins. You grow up side by side, doing everything together, same toys, same schools, same stupid childhood arguments about whose turn it is to sit by the window.
When we were little, we were inseparable. If one of us went somewhere, the other followed like a minion..Then we got older. Just like most twins would agree, people change. Interests change. You realize you don't actually have to live the exact same life just because you were born on the same day.
Still… Ellie's always been my person.
The door suddenly swings open.
"Elisha, oh my goodness!"
Before I can even say hello, Ellie throws her arms around me.
She hugs me tight, squeezing like she's trying to check if I'm real. Then she pulls back just enough to plant a quick kiss on my cheek.
"You look soooo lean," she says, holding my shoulders and looking me up and down dramatically. "My God, if Mom sees you like this she's going to have a fit."
I laugh.
"Relax. I'm fine."
I reach over and mess up her hair the way I used to when we were kids, pushing my hand through the mess of black curls.
Ellie is a feminine version of me. Short, black curls and well, that's mostly what we have in common together.
"Stop!" she yelps immediately, swatting my hand away and stepping back. "Don't ruin my curls!"
She starts patting her hair frantically, trying to fix the damage.
I grin.
Some things never change.
Ellie still looks exactly like herself with that same warm brown skin, and wild curls that refuse to behave no matter how much product she uses. The only difference is that she looks a little more grown up now.
She finally finishes fixing her hair and gives me a suspicious look.
"You did that on purpose."
"Maybe."
She rolls her eyes but smiles anyway, then steps aside and gestures inside the apartment.
"Well," she says, "are you going to stand there all day, or are you coming in?"
I step inside, dropping my bag near the door.
"Nice place," I say, glancing around.
And I mean it.
The apartment is huge for a student place—bright living room, big windows letting in sunlight, soft couches that actually look comfortable instead of the cheap ones you usually see in college apartments. Books and notebooks are scattered across the coffee table, and a pair of sneakers sits abandoned near the wall.
Ellie leans against the doorframe, watching my reaction with a smug smile.
"Right?" she says. "Not bad for off-campus living."
"Not bad?" I snort. "This is practically luxury."
She laughs.
Then suddenly her expression softens as she looks at me again.
"I'm really glad you came," she says quietly.
For a second I don't know what to say.
So I just nod.
"Yeah," I reply.
"Me too."
"Babe, I think I'm heading out now." A voice drifts from somewhere deeper in the apartment, the kind of tone someone uses when they're comfortable enough to call someone babe.
A door clicks softly and I am already grinning.
I turn toward Ellie, ready to tease her and drag the word out the second whoever it is walks in. Babe..I can practically hear myself saying it but the words never make it out because the guy who steps into the living room is him.
Him.
The room feels like it suddenly lost all its air. For a second my brain refuses to process it, like it's trying to protect me from the reality standing ten feet away but there's no mistake.
It's the same broad shoulders. The same dark hair that falls slightly into his eyes. The same mouth I remember too clearly, maybe too much. The same man whose hands have been in places it shouldn't have been in my body.
Dosu Micheal.
The name crashes into my head like a punch. Two months ago. Two months since the night that ruined everything.
Two months since I had to pack my shit and move out of my dorm like some kind of criminal. Two months of sleeping on James and John's couch because going back there wasn't an option anymore.
And the reason standing right here is staring straight at me. Time freezes for a split second.
His eyes widen with shock.
Rage explodes through me before I can think. My bag slips from my shoulder and hits the floor with a dull thud.
"Elisha?" Ellie says behind me, confused. "What's going—"
I don't hear the rest. My fists are already clenched.
Before anyone can react, before my brain can even catch up with my body, I close the distance in two long strides and swing. My fist connects with Dosu Micheal's face with a hard crack.