Somebody

The Truth

Chapter 11

"Who's Vincent?"

It was as if all the air had been vacuumed out of the taxi; everything turned still and silent.

From one look at Veronica, I knew that Vincent definitely had to do with something. The blood had rushed out of her freckled face and her tired eyes were wide open. The smile had been wiped off her face and she was as white as a sheet. She looked as if she had seen a ghost.

She opened and closed her mouth several times, hesitating to answer my question.

"Vincent? Never heard of him," she finally replied, her voice a hoarse whisper.

"Are you sure? The name Vincent Chang doesn't ring any bells?"

She was obviously startled at me knowing so much about her mystery man.

"Don't forget I'm your twin too Veronica," I pushed, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Fine, I do know a Vincent, and how you even know about him is a mystery to me, but he's none of your business. It's not a topic up for discussion either. Okay? As my twin, as my sister, as my friend, please understand that."

I gave Veronica a hard look. Of course I wanted to know more, I was worried for my own sister for goodness sake. But I knew that when she gave the twin-sister-friend speech, she was serious. And I respected her wishes. Or at least I desperately wanted to.

"Okay fine. I'll never talk to you about Vin- that guy again."

At that point, the vehicle stopped outside our house.

"Twenty dollars, ladies," the ancient taxi driver wheezed.

As we paid the man and hauled our bags towards the front door, I caught Veronica giving me several skeptical looks.

"Riley, you're my sister and I trust you with everything. You know that right?"

I resisted the urge to sigh in frustration. Veronica had been dropping several vague comments all day and it was really annoying me, especially when I thought this all had to do with Vincent.

"Of course Ronnie. Can you unlock the door for me? These bags are heavy."

Unlocking the door and holding it open for me, the twinkle had returned to my sister's grey eyes and the corners of her mouth were curving up.

"Great. Now that we have that out of the way, I have a proposition for you," Veronica teased.

"I'm listening," I answered, smiling that my sister had some of her old spark back.

"What would you say to a nice night out with your twin sister?"

~*~

"Wear that green one! It'll look nice with your eyes."

Veronica and I were sitting cross-legged on my bed, our dresses (though most were mine) scattered between us.

"No! That was so last season Ronnie! You should know that."

My sister scowled before leafing through my clothes like a savage animal.

"Woah! Careful sis! These are all one-of-a-kind designer dresses! Some of these have even been worn at New York Fashion Week shows," I chastised.

"I don't know what that is, and I don't care," she scoffed, rubbing the material of my original Zac Posen dress between her fingers.

"Well you should," I retorted, grabbing the silk dress from her grubby hands. She laughed and threw her head back.