Twice The Trouble Book 2 of 2: Twice The Love

Chapter 55: Fright Night

Sophia

Was it weird for a girl to ask out a guy?

I badly wanted to go with Lucas, but he was still in New York for two more weeks, and I didn't want to attend this particular party alone. I wanted to be with someone I knew since I was going to be helping out with the children's Halloween party at Kayla's nursery school. Courtney had asked me very politely that if I had the time, could I possibly drop by and assist with the kids?

My original plan was to hang out with Stacy and our friends at the Halloween Fair at university but a gnawing feeling at the back of my mind urged me to say yes to Courtney's request. She and her family had just moved to the Philippines and it would be rude to decline her invitation.

I couldn't deny that I also wanted--no, needed answers that only she could give me. So when Sir Bob, our boss at Snack Attack, dismissed us early in celebration of Halloween, Stacy and I headed straight home. My twin began her makeover rituals while I sat behind my desk, a sheet of white paper in front of me. At the top of the page were the words: DATE OPTIONS?

A rush of heat washed over my bespectacled face as I stared down at the leaf of paper.

There had to at least be one guy in this list who could be my escort to the party?

I willed myself to stay optimistic even though I was grasping at straws--I planned to wheedle a guy friend to be my friendly date at the very last minute, so I had to be more considerate in asking them for their time.

Alright, Sophia, let's do this!

1. Liam

If Lucas was out of the picture, then so was my best guy friend.I knew Liam was attending the school fair with Vivien, his girlfriend.

So I crossed his name out.

2. Ronald

3. Alexis

4. Travis

5. Trevor

My Brooklyn Nine-Nine boys were also going to the Orion Halloween fair with their dates.

I hastily drew lines over their names, my heart dropping in dismay.

6. Xavier

I didn't even know why I put his name there. He was taking Spencer, his girlfriend, to the fair.

Sliding a line along his name, I cupped my right cheek in my right palm and thoughtfully tapped the eraser head of my pencil against the paper.

7. Cole

8. Noah

9. Mick

10. Jeff

11. Jerry

12.Matthew

Cross, cross, cross, cross, cross! I frantically drew wide Xes on six more names, my spirits and my shoulders deflating in utter dejection.

Everyone was busy, and I couldn't blame them. I brought this dilemma on myself.

"Sop, what are you doing?"

Panicked, I crumpled up the paper and flung it in the air. "Ah!" I rubbed at my nape while smiling at my twin sister from across the pink-green bedroom. "It's nothing important!" 

Stacy was all dressed up--her golden her was wild and messily cascading down her waist while she wore black shades over her head, a dark-blue police uniform with short sleeves, short shorts,  black knee-high leather boots, a pair of real handcuffs dangling from her black leather belt, and a dark blue police cap pulled over her yellow head. If she were a real cop, all male criminals would probably surrender themselves on the spot.

My sister caught me studying her costume and she beamed at me. "Isn't it amazing?" she trilled. "I even memorized the Miranda rights. 'You have the right to remain silent'" and all the stuff." She bent down and reached for the crumpled sheet of paper that I threw away. Her sky blue eyes raced over the crossed out names,then she shook her head before glancing up at me again. "Sop, you could have told me you needed a date for tonight. I would have helped you."

"I know," I replied, standing up and hugging my arms. Why did it feel colder than usual? I was used to this temperature radiating from the AC. "But I wanted to do it on my own. I didn't think it would be so difficult."

Stacy saw me shivering and touched my arm. "Sop, are you feeling ill?" she asked, looking worried.

"I'm fine," I said, smiling at her, gently removing her hand.

She stared at me. "How's your heart?" If it were another person asking that question, they would have pertained to my emotional status, but Stacy of all people would be referring to my new heart--the heart that replaced my old, malfunctioning heart from more than one year ago.

"Normal," I answered, giving her a reassuring smile. "Help me put on my costume?"

Though unconvinced, Stacy rolled her crystal-blue eyes heavenward. "Of course," she said, already grabbing the hanger holding my costume from the hook on the green wall.

Thirty minutes and one stab to my eye later, (it was my first time using eyeliner) I was ready: My long brown hair was curled, its tips pointing in every direction like in those pirate movies, but when I gazed at my reflection in the vanity mirror, I was stunned by how seductive it looked. As for my costume,I wore a white, off-shoulder blouse with long puff sleeves ending below my elbows and an outer black corset hugging my small waist while my wrists were adorned with copper and silver bangles. I also wore a black pirate hat with a white skull and crossbones printed on it, my gray half-heart necklace as per usual, comfortable black pants tucked into brown leather boots. I replaced my glasses with contact lenses.

I sprang up from my stool and twirled around, drawing out my authentic sword from its strap as I whirled around, raising the sword in the air dramatically. "Jack Sparrow!" I laughed. "Captain Jack Sparrow," I amended my error before replacing my sword into its strap.

"Oh, Miss Pirate," Stacy drawled out, waving a sheet of paper in my face. "There's one more name in this list that you haven't contacted."

She brandished it at me,and my brown eyes glimpsed the last name at the bottom of the list. "Ace, I shouldn't even have added him there in the first place," I said with a wary sigh.

"Well, it's still up to you." My blonde sister in a sexy police costume placed the paper in my hand and tipped her hat to me. "I'll go ahead, okay? Don't do anything stupid," she advised me, kissing my cheek and stepping out of our pink-green bedroom.

I laughingly called out to her: "I should be the one telling you that!"

My gaze fell on the last name once more. To call or not to call? That was the question. In the end, I succumbed to social pressure and jabbed in his number. "Laurence?" I said into the receiver, hoping this wasn't a horrible idea on my part.