I’m rewarded with a full-on smile from Karli and I find I quite enjoy it. Maybe this won’t be the worst trip home.
Karli laughs. “Good thing Bertha and I both enjoy a good joke.”
It’s stupid to be happy about being the one to make her smile. But after witnessing her horrid mother, it’s nice to see her lips lift in a grin.
I send Sean a text telling him I found a ride home.
His response is immediate.
Sean:What? Come on man. Don’t leave.
I put my phone away without answering. He calls instead.
I ignore that as well.
“So, are you ready to dive into the questions or would you prefer an hour of me singing whatever song I feel like?” Karli asks as she merges onto the 515.
“Are those the only options?”
“Yes. Bertha’s radio gave out years ago. And I have a terrible singing voice so choose wisely.”
“I suppose it’s questions then.” I watch the passing billboards out the window, and the lights of the city. I’m not sad to see them go.“First question–”
My phone rings again and I silence it.
Karli’s eyes flick to my phone. “What’s the deal with you and Sean? I get why you’re mad at him, but it’s more than the kidnapping right?”
I shift in my seat. “Don’t you want to start with my favorite color or something?”
“Navy blue.” She says matter-of-factly.
Lucky guess.
I’m tempted to decline this question as well, but for some reason, I don’t. “Sean and I are best friends. It seems to be an unspoken rule when you’re a twin, to be inseparable. And we always have been. Sean’s the wild one, I’m the one who reins him in.”
“And he pulls you out of your comfort zone?”
“Yeah,” I admit. I used to be shy when I was little and never wanted to play with anyone but my brother. So Sean brought the friends to me, giving me courage one friend at a time. “It’s stupid, but I feel like I don’t exist outside of him. And I just want to find me.”
“That doesn’t sound stupid to me,” Karli says.
Her validation is like aloe on the burn.
“I always thought I understood Sean better than anyone else, but then he goes and does this.” I silence notifications on my phone and slip it into my pocket.
She glances over at me. “And it hurts because he doesn’t understand you?”
“I suppose so.” Are all the questions going to be this hard?
Silence fills the empty space between us.
“You work at the family business, right?” Karli asks, saving me from my thoughts.
“For now.”
“That sounded ominous.” She fiddles with something on the dash and Bertha responds with a weird clanking sound.
“This van makes our future look ominous.”
