Twice The Trouble Book 2 of 2: Twice The Love

Chapter 60: The First Crack

Stacy

"My twin senses are tingling."

"Your what now?"

"My twin senses," I repeated impatiently.

Bryce looked at me like I was going crazy. "You have to elaborate."

"You know!" I was more and more nettled by his obliviousness. "You're a twin, too, Bryce. Haven't you ever gotten this.. feeling? That Lucas is going through something?"

"Well, that's not hard to figure out. He's an open book," said my brown-haired suitor. "He can try all he can to keep a stoic face but his eyes always give him away."

I smacked his arm. "No! That's not what I meant! Listen, I--Oh,we're here." Bryce parked his black car about five feet away from my house. I literally hopped out before he could even open the passenger door for me.

"Damn it, be careful!"

"I won't damage your precious car," I wryly told him as I fixed my golden tresses.

"Who the hell was talking about the car? I was referring to you!"

I lifted a skeptical brow at Bryce,who sighed. "Alright, both of you," he admitted begrudgingly.

"There you go," I cheekily said before poking his lips, leaving him in a daze. "See you tomorrow?"

Bryce nodded, looking at me.

I told him: "Call me when you get home. Call, not text, okay?"

Again, he nodded his head. "I will." Then he drove away.

Sophia

When I got home, Stacy was already there in our bedroom.

I dropped my green backpack on the ground and made a beeline for the pink-coated half of the spacious room. I purposely fell face-first on my sister's pink-colored bed, burying my face in the pink cotton bed sheets.

"Alright, tell me everything," said Stacy, who was sitting in front of her vanity mirror.

I did as she asked. Stacy is not only my sister, she had always been so much more to me: a parent, therapist, babysitter, but most of all, my best friend, and I never kept secrets from her. Not that I could even hide any from her. She had always been scarily observant.

After I finished relating everything to Stacy, her perfectly plucked eyebrows knitted together. "Something feels off," she remarked, rising from her stool, crossing her arms, and pacing around the pink-green bedroom.

I flipped over like a pancake and settled into an cross-legged sitting position on her pink bed.  "What do you mean?" I asked her.

Stacy stopped pacing to look at me, both hands behind her back. "You're smart, Sophia. I know you'll figure it out soon, but when it's all too much to bear, you know I'll always be here."

"How much did you piece together?" I asked my sister.

The pretty blonde swept her bangs off her forehead and closed her eyes. "I only have suspicions, but for once in my life, I want to be proven wrong."

"You're making me nervous."

"I have that effect on everyone."

Lucas

When the airplane finally touched the ground, I heard a collective sigh of relief from the other passengers on board, then came another announcement:

"Please check around your seat for any personal belongings you may have brought on board with you and please use caution when opening the overhead bins, as heavy articles may have shifted around during the flight."

A couple of hours later, I was back at my apartment, feeling tired and hungry from the eighteen-hour flight from New York to Philippines. But just as I anticipated, it was only four in the morning, so without changing my clothes, I collapsed on my sofa and took a long, well-deserved nap.

When I reopened my brown eyes, the clock on the wall read 5:30 pm. I had slept away half of the day, but I wasn't worried. I sat up and stretched my arms before checking my phone: Only one message filled my inbox. It was from my best friend and closest classmate, Noah Torres. Three people knew of my early return: Bryce, Noah, and father. I wanted to surprise Sophia after she finished with her part-time job at the mall.

From: Noah T.

She's still at her shift at Snack Attack. I overheard her tell Stacy that she's heading to the local library to do some homework.

To: Noah T.

Thanks, Noah.

I tossed my black phone onto the sofa, then I ate my late lunch, took a quick shower, and slipped on a deep cerulean shirt,white button-down polo without buttoning it, and dark jeans paired with black shoes. I combed my black hair in front of the living room mirror, slapping on some cologne before grabbing my car keys and locking up my apartment behind me.

On my way to the town library, I swung by the local florist, a few minutes later ,I emerged from the store with a spring bouquet of roses I knew Sophia would love.

I reached the library in no time, but I frowned when I peered into a window and didn't see a particular brunette sitting in her usual spot. She had never failed to vacate the most practical seat in the place, away from the cold AC and just close enough to the field of shelves to catch a mild whiff of the old, decrepit book pages.

Thinking that she was still at Snack Attack, I headed back that way, looking for but not seeing her familiar brown hair and eyes. I swung by her house, then the bakery, figuring she might have changed her mind and was probably running a family errand.

I turned my car around and retraced my path through town, cruising slowly. When I spotted Sophia's bicycle parked near a park with a small lake, I slammed on the brakes and pulled my car in beside her bike.

I couldn't be mistaken. I knew this bike. It was my gift to Sophia on our second-month anniversary. When we were only friends, she confessed that she never learned how to ride a bike,and the wistfulness in her voice and face stuck in my mind ever since. It had taken some time, but with my help, she eventually got the hang of it. Sophia was always a soul-searching kind of person, so it wasn't too surprising that she decided to go to a lake surrounded by trees.

Feeling a twinge of nerves, I grabbed the bouquet of roses and stealthily sneaked between a gaggle of ancient trees, hoping to surprise her, but as I rounded the corner, I came to an abrupt halt.

Sophia was there, just as I'd expected her to be. She was sitting on the bench that overlooked the vast, clear lake, but what stopped me from moving forward was the fact that she wasn't alone.

Instead, she was sitting beside Liam, almost nestled against him.

From the back, it was difficult to make out anything more than that.

I reminded myself that they were just best friends. She's known Liam since high school, and for a moment that was enough. Until, that is, I saw them on the bench, and I realized they were holding hands.