“He’s not my secret admirer,” I hiss, simultaneously smoothing down my hair. “Drive!”
Mia doesn’t move as the black Jaguar crawls to a stop beside us and lowers its window.
“Hi, Nate!” Mia chirps. “Fancy seeing you here.”
Nate smiles, looking straight past her. “Hey, Erin.”
“Charming!” Mia flicks her hair in feigned annoyance. “Am I invisible or something?”
“Hi,” I murmur, avoiding Nate’s gaze.
The Holts basically built this town, and it shows. At Stonybridge Academy, wealth doesn’t instantly guarantee popularity as everyone who attends is already loaded. However,Nate’s family history and his prowess on the football field have made him a local legend. Unlike most people, my father doesn’t have a positive opinion of the Holts. He despises the way ‘their arrogant son’ swans around the streets like he owns them, even though he kinda does.
“Are you coming to the party after the game tonight?” he asks. “It’s going to be wild.”
“N—” I begin.
“Yes!” Mia interrupts. “Of course we are.”
“Really?” Nate’s eyes widen in surprise. “I didn’t think you went to parties, Erin. Aren’t you too cool for them?”
That can’t be further from the truth. Before I open my mouth, Mia jumps in again. “She’ll be there. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Sweet.” Nate beams, showing off two perfect rows of Hollywood-style white teeth. “I’ll see you there.”
Nate’s handsome in a clean-cut way. He has short brown hair, tanned skin, brown eyes, and a killer body. Although I live under a rock most of the time, even I know he doesn’t date. His father doesn’t want a girlfriend distracting him during the football season. Although, that doesn’t stop Nate from having success with many girls, if the rumors are true.
“Mia!” I nudge her in the ribs as Nate speeds away. She’s wearing a smug smirk and an ‘I told you so’ expression that makes me want to punch her. “You know I can’t go. What will my dad say?”
“Come on,” she says. “This is our senior year. He can’t keep you locked away forever like some helpless princess. You told me that Sarah used to go to parties all the time, remember?”
“And look what happened to her,” I mutter.
She went to a party the night she disappeared.
A party she never returned from.
Mia’s expression softens instantly. “Shit, I didn’t mean…”
“I know,” I reply with a sad smile.
It’s refreshing for someone to say Sarah’s name aloud and to confirm that my twin actually existed outside of my own memories.
“This is our last year at high school,” Mia says. “You’re eighteen now. I know yesterday was the anniversary of Sarah’s disappearance. You need a distraction. You can spend one night doing something normal, can’t you? The party will be amazing.”
Behind us, an engine whirs to life. The temperature drops as my father nears in his car. He’ll be heading to work now. He spends most of his waking hours there, when he isn’t chauffeuring me around and acting like an overzealous bodyguard.
“Girls,” he greets us curtly. “Is there a problem?”
This is his indirect way of asking why we’re still stationary and not on the way to school.
“There’s no problem, Mr. Acacia,” Mia says. “I just dropped my lip gloss between the seats. Silly me!”
“You should be more careful next time.” He frowns. “You don’t want to be late.”
“We’re leaving right away, Mr. Acacia,” she says, turning the keys in the ignition.
Thankfully, he’s driving in the opposite direction.
