The Decuplets

Double Date From Hell

Ella

Resuming a tradition of our original relationship, Zach and I watched a lot of movies and took turns picking them. Today we were watching "10 Things I Hate About You," my choice, of course. But because Reece cannot seem to fathom leaving me alone, he walked in with Gracie.

"Hey guys!" he said, cheery. "What are we watching?" he asked, sitting down with Gracie and mirroring our cuddling.

"'Ten Things I Hate About You'" I replied. "That's the name of the movie. I can think of far more than 10 things I hate about you."

He put his hand to his heart and jutted out his lip, saying, "that is the sweetest thing!"

"You know me!" I sneered.

I tried to ignore him and watch the movie, but I felt his beady eyes on me for multiple minutes at a time. Eventually, I caved. "Reece, can I speak with you?" I asked, standing up.

"Anytime!" he replied, following me out of the living room.

"What are you doing?" I demanded as soon as they could no longer hear us.

"What are you doing is the better question! Being with Zach? What, to make me jealous?"

"News flash! The world doesn't revolve around you! I love Zach and that's why I'm with him and not you," I spat.

"Oh, please, using my brother as a rebound does not mean you love him. You are delusional," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't you get it? You were the fucking rebound if anyone, Reece!"

"Tell me something, then. Would you be with Zach right now if I hadn't 'cheated' on you?" he taunted with air quotes.

"Maybe not. Maybe I would have continued to give you a chance, but you blew it."

"So no."

"I never stopped loving Zach. Go cry about it."

He faked offense. "I hope you realize he also cheated on you. Or have you forgotten?"

"If you're both going to cheat on me, I might as well be with the one I like more!" I shot back.

He scoffed, unsure how to respond.

"And stop acting like I betrayed you by moving on; you moved on quicker than I did. Yeah, I saw you two at the carnival the next fucking day. Not even with the girl you cheated on me with! A whole new girl!"

Again, he didn't respond. He was glaring at the floor.

I drew nearer to him, arms crossed. "I can't believe I almost had sex with you. And for the record, it could've been a week's time before I was ready. Who knows? We could have been upstairs fucking right now if you just had it in you to wait. But you didn't. Guess we'll never know."

"Ella, I—"

"I hope you and Gracie have fantastic sex," I smirked, "I'm just thankful you can never compare her to me. Let's get back to the movie, shall we?"

I walked off, arms crossed and smirking. Gracie and Zach were hanging out of the couch, talking and laughing. Uh oh.

"You guys are back!" Gracie exclaimed. "Reece, I love your brother! He's so funny."

"Yeah, Gracie and I were thinking we should go on a double date now that we know each other."

"Plus, it wouldn't hurt for you two to do a little bonding, right?" Gracie suggested. No fucking way.

-

The double date, believe it or not, was the most miserable dinner experience of my life. It truly made me want to commit a crime, maybe something relatively harmless like yelling "fire!" and making everyone run away. Then I would blame it on Reece.

I could not believe I was essentially sitting there in a restaurant with my ex, his new girl, and his brother, but also my current "boyfriend", his brother, and his brother's girl. And somehow that was three people.

"I'll get the penne vodka," Reece told the waiter, folding his menu and stacking it on everyone else's.

"Don't put too much vodka in it," I informed the waiter, "he does terrible, terrible things when he's drunk."

"Look who's talking," he taunted.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll have the Caesar salad," I said.

"I didn't peg you as the Caesar type," Reece remarked.

"Is that a dig?" I asked, confused.

"Just a comment," he shrugged.

"You should know these things about your future sister in law," I sneered.

He burst out laughing. "Hysterical. Good one, Ella."

I rolled my eyes again. "Chill out," Zach whispered in my ear. Note to self: Zach is also to blame for the fire.

I tried to stay silent as Zach and Gracie made small talk, obviously not trusting the two of us to carry the conversation. The food could not come fast enough.

After we ate and paid the bill, Gracie and Reece left separately, leaving Zach and I to discuss the most tense meal of my life. Oh boy.

"Seriously, Ella, what's going on?" he asked.

I wanted to tell him the truth because I wanted him to hear the words from my mouth rather than from Reece's or even Brandon's, but this was neither the place nor the time.

"He said some pretty rude stuff to me when you and I first got back together. I just can't stand him," I sighed.

His lips formed a line. "I hope one day you two can work it out. He's my brother, after all. I would hate for him to dislike you forever."

"Maybe one day," I said. When pigs fly.