The Gallagher twins

~• 07 •~

-Ryan Gallagher.

He turned to look at us, still holding the waitress tightly. When Aidan told me he was a womanizer, I took it lightly. But that's what a cynic would do; make out with anyone.

-Is your brother Aidan Gallagher? -asked the girl, stunned. She slipped out of Ryan's grip and moved closer- Oh my God, I'm your fan.

It was all so confusing that when I realized it, it was hilarious. Ryan stared at them, horrified. What a Hollywood scene. I think he was more surprised than angry, actually.

-Can I take a picture with you? I really thought your brother was you.

After all the drama, we decided to leave.

I argued with Ryan as Aidan opened the door to the house. On the way, we hurried thinking our parents were already there.

-She basically used me.

-You didn't even know her, Ryan!

-I don't know her, but I swear I'll never forget her.

-No offence, but you're just being so needy.

The two Americans looked at me, confused.

-What do you mean?

-I'm saying that you're to blame for being easy. And if I'm not too trusting, for being horny.

I didn't look like he wanted to contradict myself, but I wasn't wrong anyway. Aidan laughed freely.

-Good night.

Now it was just me and Aidan. Honestly to this day, I think Ryan went to sleep because he had nothing to say. We were in complete silence.

-You're not going to sleep?

-With what happened, all I want to do is make fun of Ryan.

-The man must be furious that you took away his moment of glory.

-I think you're on the same wavelength as me -he smiled at me, jocularly and amusingly.

We grabbed two sodas from the refrigerator and went out into the garden. There was a lot of air and that made our hair fly. It was good for him, for me the gust of wind just ruined my hair.

-But taking Ryan out of all this, that girl was served to him on a silver platter. What a lack of respect. She just threw herself at him!

-People don't care about keeping their reputations intact anymore. But seriously, I like the way you think.

I drank some of my soda. I smiled at him.

-A lot of people have told me I have the judgement of an old lady -I explained-, but personally I don't think those same people love themselves.

We drank the rest of our sodas in silence and walked back into the house. If I noticed that me and Aidan shared an opinion, I didn't get to notice that Ryan had been watching us from a window the whole time.

[...]

I was yawning from sheer boredom. I was in math class. This time the twins sat together, I was alone. Astrid told me she had woken up very sick.

My phone vibrated; I had received a notification.

''C'mere. I'm in the closest restroom to your classroom. Quickly.'' Arabella wrote to me. As far as what she told me, it seemed important. But I wasn't shocked, she was a bit over the top.

-Teacher, can I go quickly to the bathroom?

-OK, ___, but don't be late.

I rushed off to the bathroom. I found my friend washing her hands. As she finished rinsing, I thought about what she wanted to tell me.

-Ari, what happened?

She was inhaling and exhaling, excited. I started to get nervous. She didn't say anything.

-Ah! -she shouted, cheerful- The handsome guy in my class invited me to a party at his house. Most people are going, but I can't go alone.

-Why not?

-Because I can't. Then I need you to come with me. If you want, I can lend you some clothes.

I hated parties. For me, only four disastrous things can happen there: sex, alcohol, drugs and stupid things. But for the first time I wanted to cheer up, so I agreed.

-The party's next Saturday.... Basically in a week. You get to my house early that day.

I went back to my class. On the way I regretted it a bit, but as my dad says: What's done is done.

When I walked in, Ryan looked at me and stopped until I got into my seat. I thought it was weird.

-Well, guys, I hope you understood everything. Don't say we didn't look at it later -the professor put his books in his bag and left (Hallelujah!).

I was still wondering if going to that party was a good idea. I didn't even know why I had accepted. Sometimes I didn't even understand myself.

The teacher from the next class didn't show up and the school didn't send a substitute, so the whole class went out on the soccer field.

-Will you take care of my cell phone, ___? I'm going to play soccer -Ryan smiled at me. I agreed. I stopped looking at him; I wasn't interested, I was sure he sucked at playing.

The device vibrated in my hands, which made me jump. Someone had sent him a message. In fact, quite a few because the cell phone kept ringing.

On the one hand it was worth it to me, on the other hand I was very interested. The gossip consumed me.

''Ryan, for God's sake, we need to talk. REPLY TO ME,''

It was Hannah. After that she kept writing things about how they should talk about I don't know what, but it seemed to be urgent. I didn't get to mark the messages as seen, I was reading from the notification bar.

In the midst of all that, I was shooting quick glances at Ryan. The last thing I wanted at that moment was to be discovered.

''Don't ignore me. What's wrong with you? Ever since the move you've been ignoring me.''

If only she knew. I hope I'm not the one to tell her that her Ryan made out with a waitress.

''I'm sure you're messing around with someone else. Degenerate.''

She stopped writing, so I figured my hour of gossiping had come to an end. Little did I know what was about to happpened.

Music started coming from Ryan's phone. He had an incoming call.

For a moment I didn't know what to do. I was filled with nerves. The only thing I could think was that I hoped she would kick Ryan out for being a troublemaker. But my fingers started to itch and.... I answered.

-Hello -I spoke in a whisper.

She hung up.