Most importantly though, I need to make a stop at the craft store, because I have the best idea for this year's ugly Christmas sweater.
Chapter Two
Spencer
IfeellikeI’mthe Grinch standing in the town of Whoville. All around me Santa’s little elves are dressed in red and green outfits with candy cane striped socks, to go along with their pointed ears and jingling shoes. Each and every one of them are running around with checklists and happy-go-lucky smiles on their faces.
I can’t believe I let my parents rope me into setting up the Christmas market this year. I should have known the moment the school went on Winter Break that my mom would guilt trip me into spending my own vacation doing volunteering. She looks at me with those big brown puppy dog eyes and I’m putty in her hands. Yes, I know that must sound creepy since she’s my mom, but making her happy makes me happy. So really, I’m just being selfish.
“Hey, Spencer!” I hear my name being shouted from somewhere, but I can’t place whose voice it is. Setting the box of lights on the ground in front of me, I lift my hand to my eyes to block the bright rays of the sun and look around the fairgrounds.
“Spence, over here!” I turn quickly towards the voice and I feel my heart stop in my chest when I finally see her. Phoebe. The biggest and only ‘what if’ of my life. The girl I royally screwed things up with when I was a senior in high school when me and her twin sister got caught kissing.
“What’s up Spen-Sirrrrrr!” Her voice comes out in a mocking-sing songy tone.
And just like that I realize that I’ve messed up again.That stupid ass nickname.Only one person in my life has called me that, and it’s not Phoebe. I have to force myself from physically recoiling when Piper finally reaches me and throws her arms around me. I haven’t spoken much to her since that night at the Winter Formal, the night we ruined any chance I had with Phoebe. Even if I had wanted to reach out and explain to Phoebe what had happened, I couldn’t have.
And she hasn’t come home since she left for college in New York…five years ago.
Piper squeezes herself closer to my body and small knots of dread form in my stomach.
What if Phoebe is here? What if she sees Piper embracing me like I’m a long lost lover of hers?
I pull back quickly and nervously shove my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “Hey, Piper. How's military life treating you? Are you home for the holidays?” I ask her, though I don’t really care to hear her answer. I can’t help the small sliver of hope blooming in my stomach as I look around for Phoebe.
“Dude she’s not coming until tomorrow,” Piper says instead of answering any of my questions.
My eyes widen as I look back at her and I can feel the start of a blush creeping up my neck. Am I that obvious?
“Yes, you are,” Piper says as a knowing smirk tugs at her lips as she answers my unspoken thoughts. She puts her hands on her hips and looks me up and down, like she’s sizing me up. I feel about two feet tall by the time her eyes reach mine again.
How could I ever confuse these two?
Phoebe and Piper may be identical twins, but they are also completely and totally different. Piper’s green eyes are a couple shades brighter than her twins, and they have always looked a bit hostile, like she’s ready to rip you a new one the moment you look her way. Phoebe’s eyes look like someone plucked dark emeralds out of a treasure chest, and there’s a thin, golden ring around her irises. Both sisters have always been on the shorter side, but Piper was just a tad bit shorter than Phoebe the last time I saw them together, and both had the same slim and petite bodies. Except now Piper looks more solid…stronger. Her face has taken on some sharper angles and lost that teenager-look. She’s also packed on some serious gains, which her being in the military, a bit of muscle just makes sense for her.
“Are you done ogling me? Or should I tell Pheebs you’re still a douchebag?”
“Jesus, Piper,” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I’m not a douchebag. I’m not checkingyouout, and youknowit.” My voice is low as I emphasize my words and give her a hard stare. I can’t help but get a small thrill of pleasure when I see her eyes widen a fraction in surprise. Her entire demeanor changes with my words, and I watch as she swallows hard and runs a nervous hand through her hair. It’s cropped short to her shoulders, and her natural shade of red has been dyed dark brown.
I guess she thought if she avoided me long enough that I’d forget about our past. No such luck when she and her sister are both back home for the first time in years.
“You couldn’t wait ten minutes before you threw that in my face. Really, Spence?” Her bright green eyes are lined with annoyance, but she’s tugging at the sleeves of the black jacket she’s wearing, so I know she’s nervous about me spilling the beans.
Which I wouldn’t do.
I still care about Phoebe too much to hurt her even further than we already have. The look on her face when she saw Piper and I kissing still haunts me. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure I never have to see that look of devastation and betrayal in her eyes again.
Except tell her the truth.
I clear my throat in an obvious way to ease the tension I just created between us. I don’t hate Piper, I never have. In fact, she was one of my closest friends when we were kids. She was the only one who didn’t laugh at me when I had to get braces in middle school, and she went with me to all the school dances because I was too nervous to ask Phoebe to go with me. She never wanted to go to the dances, as she was not about that social life at all and would have lived happily ever after with an anime comic and her punk-rock music blasting too loudly from her headphones. But, she sucked it up and always said yes because she knew that her going would be the only way to get Phoebe to go too.
I guess I could say that Piper was my wing-woman. Unfortunately, she also ended up helping me ruin any shot I had with her sister back then.
In one stupid move, I lost the girl of my dreams and my best friend.
And even though it’ll be hard as hell to see Phoebe tomorrow, I’ve actually really missed having Piper in my life.
I should probably work on separating the children we were, from the adults we are now.
