Twice The Trouble

Chapter 49: The Rage

Stacy

From: Your Nutty Sister

Hey, Stacy? This is Sophia's friend, Spencer. She left her bag in our room and never came back from the restroom. We're worried something bad happened to her.

My nerves spiked up and I stood from my chair so fast I caught everyone's attention.

"What in the world?" Mrs. Davao turned to face me, her expression perturbed.

"Ma'am," I respectfully called her. "May I be excused? It's a family emergency."

The female instructor seemed reluctant to give me permission. "You may go."

"Thank you, ma'am," I told her before I picked up my pink backpack and sped out of the room.

Knowing my sister, there was one place she was most likely to be: The campus infirmary.

Sophia

Half of my body was unconscious, so I could hear snatches of conversation around me.

I kept my eyelids clipped and my palms sitting on my stomach. Under me was a soft mattress.

"But is she okay?" asked Stacy's voice.

"Ace, I already told you what the nurse said. Sophia's fine. She just needs more rest."

"What do you mean MORE rest? I demand you tell me what happened to her, Lucas!"

"I saw her walking by herself in the corridor, and she was so frazzled, I didn't know why."

"And??"

"I asked her if she felt unwell, and she answered no. Repeatedly. Then she just fainted."

"And you carried her all the way here?" I heard Stacy ask him.

"Yes."

Silence. Then I heard my sister tell him: "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Ace."

I waited a few minutes before I fluttered my brown eyes open, and my face felt bare.

"Where are my glasses?" I sat up in my white clinical bed.

"Sop!" Stacy rushed towards me and tackled me into a bear hug.

"Ace, I need to talk to you," I hastily told my blonde sibling next to me.

Her gaze snapped onto Lucas, who was staring at us. "Luke, you don't have to wait here anymore. I need some privacy with Sop."

The black-haired male smiled at Stacy before he nodded at me, and he reached for the doorknob, stepping out and softly pulling the white door behind him.

"Ace, he's back," I hissed after Lucas was gone.

Her sky blue eyes raced over my hassled features. "Are you 100% sure it's him?"

"No!" I flipped over and lay my stomach on the white sheets, burying my face in the pillow.

I heard Stacy blow out a sigh. "Then why are you falling apart again? Did you see him already?"

The way she spoke convinced me she already knew the rest of the details. I glanced at my twin.

"You know he's the new transfer student?"

"Only a few minutes ago. The girls I passed by kept gossiping about him. It made me gag."

"Ace, what am I gonna do?" I wailed in despair.

"Well, if you had accidentally seen him earlier, what would you have done?"

I contemplated my answer. "Run away screaming."

"Sop." Stacy shook her head in disapproval. "Remember what I said last year?"

I nibbled on my bottom lip and nodded. "That if I ever saw him again, I wouldn't let him ruin me."

"So what will you do if he asks for your time?" Stacy challenged me.

"Give it to him in the calmest way possible."

"And?"

"Don't slap him."

"What else?"

"If he invites me to a meal, order a lot."

"And??"

"Sneak out the bathroom window?"

"You've never jumped out of a window before, Sop."

"Commute home."

"What if he insists you share a ride in his car?"

"Kick him in the shin like you did?"

"That was two years ago! I'm sure he's over it like you're over him."

I didn't say anything.

"Sop, you've moved on from him, haven't you?"

I couldn't meet my sister's prying eyes. "Ace.."

"What the! Sop! You're not supposed to still harbor feelings for that asshole!"

"How was I supposed to forget about our history? I really believed he..."

"That he loved you back?" Stacy glared at me. "He doesn't deserve you, Sop."

"It's not that easy to forget someone who took a piece of my heart! You of all people--"

"I cannot believe you are throwing that in my face right now," seethed Stacy.

I was fuming as I met her steely gaze. "You expect me to erase him from my mind when you yourself refuse to even--"

"Shut up, Sop!" She covered her hands over her ears. "Shut up shut up shut up!"

"NO! You need closure, and so do I. How else can we live in the present without being shackled down in the past? This is a sign, Ace. My mistake has come back to haunt me, and it won't be long until yours does the same. It will be the end of the game for us. You always told me to fight."

A blanket of taut silence fell over us, and for a moment, all we could hear was the smooth hum of the air-conditioner above the tinted window across the room.

"I don't mean to interrupt," said our school nurse. "But I think both of you should get to class."

Stabs of alarm pricked my skin. I looked at the wall-clock and it read: 10:40am.

No.. no! I missed two hours of class? And my backpack! I had left it on my desk in the--

"Spencer has your stuff," my sister informed me.

I stared at her and she stared back. I had no proof, but I think we looked away in unison.

And then we parted ways.

Just like that.