Twice The Trouble

Chapter 82: Heat

Bryce

Saturday evening.

I ate dinner, took a warm shower, and changed into a plain black shirt and azure plaid pajamas.

My gaze flew up on the wall-clock. 8:30pm. I don't sleep with damp hair, so I flopped down on the long plush sofa of my living room. I grabbed the remote control from the coffee table and aimed it at the flat screen TV. Click. Click. Click.

I had just put the remote down after settling for Wreck-It-Ralph when my phone rang next to me.

"What do you want?" I said without checking caller ID.

"Hello to you too, brother."

I chuckled upon hearing my twin's voice. "Seriously, why'd you call?"

"Nothing. Is it illegal to want to speak to my sibling?" joked Lucas.

"I'm about to retire in a few minutes," I said into the phone. "Say what you want to say."

He laughed quietly. "You never fail to make me feel welcome, bro.I just wanted to check on how you're doing. I can hear the television in the background. Is that Wreck-It-Ralph?"

"If you know it through a phone, you know it too well," I said into the receiver.

Lucas began to ramble on about his favorite Disney movies as I stood from the sofa and headed to the fridge, rummaged inside,then pulled out a cold can of apple-flavored soda. I stared at it.

Stacy uses apple-scented shampoo.

I wasn't being a creep. Her hair always smells like apples. I thought she'd use strawberry but do strawberries even have a scent? I made a mental note to buy real strawberries and find out.

"Bryce? You still there, bro?" asked Lucas from the other line.

"Yeah," I said before popping open the lid of the soda can, then taking a short swig of juice.

"You seem distracted," he remarked.

"I was just thinking," I improvised. "What to do about Heather."

Lucas gave a low whistle. "You think she's capable of more ploys?"

Raising the soda can in the air, I wiggled it left and right,my dark blue eyes browsing the exterior.

"Girls can be unpredictable." A heavy sigh escaped me. "It's hard to tell what they'll do next."

Lucas hummed in agreement. "Stacy.. she's really something, isn't she?"

"You mean sneaky and manipulative," I retorted dryly, leaning my back on the kitchen counter.

"Come on, dude. You know she's doing all this for a reason."

"Why are you defending her?" I demanded. "She's not even your type."

Lucas sighed through the phone. "No, she isn't. Listen, Bryce. I care about Sophia but Stacy's also my friend. We're all enduring hardships of life. You think I enjoy hurting people?"

"No," I replied before sipping my soda.

"That's why I'm praying that Stacy's right about how everything will eventually be okay. She's confident her plan won't backfire. And I know there's no guarantee in anything, but I don't give up that easily. And neither do you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.

*Knock Knock Knock*

"Hold on. There's someone at the door," I said.