A Tangled Web We Weave (Completed)

25. Quiet Before the Storm

Israel

This was by far not the weirdest situation I'd ever been in, but it was up there. Hanging out with my ex's new boyfriend and my ex's best friend on a Saturday was not something I normally did. The strangest part though was that there was no animosity between any of this. I think this was partly because Regan hadn't told Tony about the way we broke up but that was ok with me. Elena and I bonded over the crappy parents thing. She rooted for me while Regan dated me, but I'm positive our friendship took a hit when the relationship went MIA.

I told Sabrina we'd do dinner tonight so my time with Tony and Elena was drawing to a close and I still had no idea how the two of them were friends. We had talked about how I was going into the Marines instead of cashing in on basketball, how Elena's dancing almost everyday after school, and how Tony had graduated from high school and college early so he could go to medical school.

"So," I started, breaking into the argument about whether or not it was puppy chow or muddy buddies. "How did the two of you meet?"

Tony shrugged, taking a sip from his beer. "Elena was a freshmen when I was a senior. I was at my cousin's party and this girl was struggling with one of my pals on the soccer team. He was completely wasted and she was getting annoyed. But she straight-up slapped him across the face. Hard. I told my buddy to lay off and I became really good friends with the girl," he said, nodding at Elena. "We've been best friends ever since."

Elena wrinkled her nose. "Wait, who's your cousin again?"

He sighed. "We've talked about this. Hudson Sinclair? His mom is my mom's sister."

She froze. "No, you've never told my that."

I burst out laughing. "Aw, that's sweet."

Tony glared at me. "What's sweet?"

"Dude, she's dating-"

"We're not dating, but your cousin?" She squeaked.

He sat up straighter. "But I thought you hated him."

"She did, but you know what they say. There's a thin line between love and hate." I chuckled again.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "That's rich, coming from you. Whose sister are you dating, Iz?"

I rolled my eyes. "She's hot." I pointed at Tony. "He's dating your best friend."

He shrugged. "She's hot."

"Oh my gosh, are all guys shallow?" Elena stood up with a huff. "Hudson's not the most attractive guy, but I'm still interested."

I scoffed. "Don't give me that crap. I heard a bunch of giggling girls fawning over him in the hallway the other day."

Tony's phone rang, cutting off whatever response she had been about to say. He checked the screen. "Oh, it's Melissa. I've gotta take this real fast." He tapped the screen. "Hey Lissy, what's up?" A pause. "Oh, sorry, I can't come over right now. I have some people over at my place. Israel and Elena are on my couc-" A longer pause. "I thought he was gone." He looked over the two of us with wild eyes. "What do you mean he woke up?" He ran a hand through his hair. "I'll be there in an hour tops. Ok, ok, bye." He hung up and threw his phone on the counter. "Sorry to have to cut this off short, kids, but I've gotta go."

"It's all good. I've got a date with royalty anyway," I winked at Elena, who tried to smile.

Elena grabbed her shoes. "Is everything ok, Tony?"

He bit his lip, pulling her into a hug. "I sure hope so. I'll call you later." He bro-hugged me. "Keep in touch, man."

I nodded, shuffling towards the door. As I drove to Sabrina's house, I thought about what happened. Why did the name Melissa sound familiar? Why did I feel like I should know that name? Pulling up, I locked my car and when I knocked on the door, it hit me. Melissa was the girl Cal's dating, the girl Sabrina hates almost obsessively. For some bizarre reason, I had a huge sense of foreboding about the entire situation.