“Hey!” I didn’t like that. “I’m here. I’m not pointless.”
Tabatha’s eyebrows pinched together. Her forehead wrinkled. Her mouth turned down. “There’s nothing you can do. This has nothing to do with any of this and everything to do with my parents. It’s that type of shit.”
“Like what?” What could possibly be that bad for her to make out with a guy and end it with Jordan? “What? Does your dad owe Harper’s dad or something—”
No…
I clocked her reaction. She full-on twitched, jerking in her chair. If she’d been pale before, she was a ghost this time.
Oh no.
“Are you serious?” My mind was spinning. This was bad, so bad. “I was just throwing out guesses. I never—” Damn. Damn! “Holy shit, Tabatha.”
She jerked to her feet, coming to me fast. “You can’t say anything. My dad has no idea that I know. He has no idea about Tim.”
“But, wait. Okay. I know enough to know that I need to know all of it. Tell me everything.”
She chewed on her bottom lip, looking torn.
“Everything, Tab!”
“Oh, God.” She turned in a tight circle, starting to pace in front of me. Her hands went to her hair and she began pulling on her strands. “I can’t. I mean. Oh my God. I’m starting to hyperventilate. I can’t breathe, Bren. I can’t—” Turning back to me, tears rolling down her face, her mouth was trembling. “It’s bad. It’s really bad.”
I was getting that. Stepping toward her, I softened my tone. “You have to tell me. Just tell me, Tabatha. Please.”
She stopped, her entire body now shaking. “I’m so scared to say anything. I know you. If I tell you, you will do something. I can’t let you do anything. You’re Jordan’s family. If you got arrested, you’d go to prison this time. Jordan couldn’t handle that. I can’t be the cause of him watching his sister go to jail. I can’t, I mean, I won’t tell you.”
“FUCKING TELL ME!”
My patience was gone.
She jumped again, slamming into her desk, but she didn’t seem to even notice. She half-perched there, and her shoulders lifted, held, and fell. I saw the defeat on her face. Her entire body, as well as her mind, seemed to give up, shrinking in front of me.
Then, she told me everything.
FROM: Tazsters
TO: Brenners
SUBJECT: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN CAIN?
Wtf?! Tab called, completely losing it. And full disclosure, I’m somewhat being a bad friend. She had a ‘moment’ like a week ago and I forgot about it. School is good here. I’m loving it, but missing everyone there. Worried about Tab, to be honest. She was just crying and I couldn’t make out a lot of what she was saying. Something about a Zach?
Do we know a Zach? I feel out of the loop.
The Best Twin
CROSS
I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing, but then again…why not? Crazier things had happened in our life. Bren called as soon as she was done at the sorority, and she asked to meet up, just the two of us. We found an outside café off the grid, and it was there that she explained everything.
I already felt a pounding headache forming. “You serious about all of this?”
Bren nodded, taking me in, and I saw the shadow forming. “What are you thinking about doing?”
I snorted. “Not tell Jordan. He’ll fucking flip out. He’ll kill Harper and won’t think twice about it.”
“Which one?”
Another snort from me. “Does it matter?”
Seriously. I was tired. College was supposed to be different, more normal for us all. Yeah, I knew Bren was restless. She was feeling out of sorts from the group, but that was a stage. She’d find her niche. We’d find ours, and no matter what, no one was moving forward without the others. Four years. I wanted four years of being a student, no major brawls, no drug dealers fucking up my sister, no moments where I almost commit murder, and certainly no administration and crooked fucking cops arresting Bren. And that was all just the tip of the iceberg of our stuff.
Now this shit?
When would it be over? When would we be steady again? Even though I hadn’t had her at that time, a part of me missed the early days of just boozing it up with Jordan and Zellman, maybe taking the edge off with a girl—any girl—before I went in search of Bren. It was always Bren. I needed those girls, because if I hadn’t, I would’ve needed Bren too much. They took off the edge for what I felt for her.
We moved at the right time for her, and that was my place. I always went by her timetable, about what she was ready for or what she wasn’t. I knew when to push, when to hold back, when to launch forward, when to pick at her, when to piss her off, when to tickle her, when to love her, and when to make her melt. I knew Bren more than I knew myself, and staring at her, I already knew there was no way we weren’t wading into this thing, neck fucking deep.