“You guess? You’re joking, right? Is he dating that girl with the lollipop?” Ruby asked, blinking at the ceiling.
“Who, Jane? No, he’s not. Not anymore that is,” Tracey said, without looking up from her notebook.
“Oooh, drama! Tell me more,” Ruby said and turned over, folding her elbows on the carpet and placing her face between the outstretched palms of her hands.
“Please don’t tell me you’re interested!” Tracey finally looked up from her notebook towards her. She had a scowl on her face, and for the first time in a week, Ruby saw what Tracey looked like when she was annoyed.
“Well, I’m not going to do anything about it,” Ruby said, pushing her glasses back up towards her eyes. “I’m just curious,” she added and passed Tracey a bright smile.
“Why?” Tracey asked flatly; she still had the same scowl on her face.
“I’m just curious. Why is that such a bad thing?” Ruby asked, matching Tracey’s scowl with a scowl of her own. She could not understand what she had said or done to bring about this massive change in Tracey.
“Because all girls do in this school is talk about him. I’m tired of it,” Tracey said and jumped from her bed.
“Well, I’m new. If I’m still talking about him after a few weeks, you can judge me then,” Ruby said and sat up straight. Tracey had walked over to her study table and was pushing books around.
“If you’re talking about him now, you’ll be talking about him then,” Tracey snapped at her while still looking for whatever it was that she was looking for on her table.
“I was just asking a few questions. Nothing to get so upset about Tracey,” Ruby snapped back and stood up from where she had been sitting. When she stood up, her book which had been on her lap fell on the floor, and Ruby had to bend down to pick it up.
As Ruby’s fingers touched the book on the floor, she saw two feet stop in front of her. Big, wide feet which definitely belonged to a man. Ruby straightened herself up, the book was in her hands, and she looked directly into the eyes of Connor Jonson who was standing in front of her. Ruby could do nothing more than gulp. She had no idea what he was doing in Tracey’s room, why he was in his socks and why he was grinning at her. Had he heard everything she and Tracey had been discussing? Was she dreaming? It definitely felt like she was.
Ruby could sense that Tracey had grown quiet near her table and was glaring at both of them, at Ruby and Connor staring at each other. She could clearly see his dimples now, his sparkling blue eyes were laughing at her while his blond hair fell casually over one of his eyes.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to the new girl, sis?” She heard Connor’s voice for the first time, and the words that he said were very nearly going to knock her off her feet.
*****
“Connor this is Ruby. Ruby this is Connor,” Tracey said without any enthusiasm while still standing at her study table.
“Hello Ruby,” Connor said with a boyish grin and stuck out his hand towards her. She shook his hand weakly, all the while trying very hard to not openly tremble. She couldn’t believe that a guy could have this effect on her.
“You were very enthusiastic in English today,” he said with a short laugh and turned on his heels to walk towards his sister. They exchanged a quick hug, and he turned his attention towards Ruby again.
“So where are you from Ruby?” Connor asked her, and she had to force herself to make her mouth move.
“We moved here from Appleton,” Ruby squeaked, and she could see that Connor was beginning to realize how nervous he was making her.
“She’s staying for dinner. I’ve told Dad already,” Tracey interrupted their conversation, and Ruby was almost relieved that she didn’t have to think of new things to say to him.
“Great. See you girls at dinner then,” Connor said with a broad smile and left his sister’s room. The door had barely shut behind him when Ruby turned to look at Tracey with wide eyes. She was openly trembling now.
“Jonson. You’re Tracey Jonson?” Ruby almost screamed at her.
“Yeah” Tracey said matter-of-factly and went back to climb up on her bed again.
“When were you going to tell me that the guy we were talking about is your brother?” Ruby could feel the fury that she was feeling rise up in a blush to her cheeks.
“I was waiting for the right opportunity,” Tracey replied calmly.
“The right opportunity? The right opportunity!” Ruby had no other response than repeating what Tracey had just said. She didn’t know where to begin with the rage that she was feeling towards her.
“Yeah. The right opportunity. For you to stop fawning over him so I could tell you,” Tracey snapped and picked up her notebook from the bed.
“You had a week to find the right opportunity,” Ruby said through gritted teeth. She had balled up her fists while her arms lay quivering by her side.
“You can leave now if you’re feeling betrayed. This is exactly what happened with Sheila, my ex-best friend,” Tracey said. She was still calm.
“What do you mean happened to her?” Ruby asked, now more puzzled than angry.
“She thought she fell in love with my brother and couldn’t deal with the fact that I’m his twin,” Tracey said and folded her arms across her chest. Ruby grew silent. She walked over to the edge of Tracey’s bed and plonked down on the mattress. Things were going too fast, too much new information was being presented to her for her to be able to comprehend things easily.
“Tracey …” she began to say but was interrupted.
“At least he’s not being a total jerk to you and is acknowledging your existence. Sheila was devastated by his behavior and ended up blaming me for it,” Tracey said and looked at Ruby with wide sorry eyes.
“Tracey, I wouldn’t blame you. Moreover, I am not in love with him,” Ruby said and looked at her with crossed brows and sorry eyes.
“Well, not yet. Connor has a way with girls that I have never understood or been a fan of,” Tracey replied. They had both softened towards each other and their voices were back to normal.
“I’m not Sheila. That’s all I can say. I won’t blame you for the behavior of other people,” Ruby said and smiled at Tracey affectionately. Thankfully, Tracey smiled back at her. The doorbell rang almost immediately after.
“It’s dad. I’ll go say hi,” Tracey said excitedly and leapt from her bed and rushed out of her room. Ruby remained sitting on the edge of Tracey’s bed and started to feel nervous again. How could she have been so foolish? For starters, how could she not have bothered to find out Tracey’s last name, in one week? And secondly, she had lied to her. The few times that she had encountered Connor had been enough evidence that she was going to fall hard and strong for him. Especially if she was going to continue being friends with Tracey and find herself in his vicinity that often.
“My dad’s ordering in some pizza,” she heard Tracey’s voice behind her and turned around to give her a smile.
“Great. I love pizza,” she managed to say to her.
“Cheer up will you?” Tracey said as she leaned against her door and smiled at Ruby. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner, but I doubt it would have made any difference,” she added.
“Well, I wouldn’t have been so embarrassingly curious about him had I known he’s your brother,” Ruby said and hung her head down shyly. Tracey laughed and walked over to Ruby to pat her on her back.
“You didn’t say or ask anything that I haven’t been asked already. Plus, you didn’t know. And I’m sorry I snapped at you,” Tracey said, still patting Ruby’s back.
“I guess it’s you who are to blame then,” Ruby said and raised an eyebrow threateningly at Tracey, and they both started giggling.
“Whatever you do, don’t ever ask me if I think Connor is hot, again,” Tracey said through her giggles, and Ruby could feel her cheeks reddening again.
“I promise I won’t,” Ruby said through her laughs. “I don’t think I’ve ever met si
blings, especially twins, who are such polar opposites,” she added and watched as Tracey shrugged her shoulders.
“We are aren’t we? But there is literally nothing that we won’t do for each other. Even if we might pretend not to care,” Tracey replied, and Ruby looked at her admiringly.
“You’re lucky,” Ruby said and patted the hand that Tracey had placed on her shoulder.
*****
Ruby gingerly took a bite from a slice of the pepperoni pizza in her hand and smiled at Tracey’s dad. They were all sitting quietly at the table. Tracey was next to her while Mr. Jonson and Connor sat across from them. Connor had his earphones plugged in and was busy typing away on his phone.
“Connor, will you take that thing out of your ears?” Mr. Jonson said loudly, and Connor rolled his eyes and took it out.
“So, Tracey tells me you recently moved here from Appleton?” Mr. Jonson turned his attention towards her, and Ruby nodded and smiled.
“How are you settling in?” he asked, and Ruby hurriedly tried to finish chewing the pizza that was in her mouth.
“Very well, thank you,” Ruby said as politely as possible and hung her head low again. She heard Connor snigger and looked up at him.
“What’s so funny, Connor?” Tracey snapped at him, and Ruby was even more embarrassed. When would Tracey stop coming to her aid?
“Nothing. Can I not enjoy my pizza in peace?” Connor snapped back at her, and Ruby watched them exchange sour looks.
“Grow up will you,” their father said endearingly and continued to study Ruby’s face. “Where are you from originally, Ruby?” he asked her.
“Well, I was born in Chicago, which is where my parents grew up till my dad had to start moving around the country for work,” she said shyly.
“So your parents have been living in the country for quite some time now?” he asked, chewing on his own piece of pizza.
“Dad!” Connor rebuked him this time and Ruby could hardly believe it.
“What? It’s an innocent enough question,” Mr. Jonson said defensively and turned to Ruby again for support. She laughed nervously.
“Yes. My mother’s family is from Japan, but she grew up here. My father is Irish,” she said and could see Connor staring at her from the corner of her eye. His eyes on her had an immediate effect, and she could feel her palms growing sweaty.
“Japan? That sounds lovely,” Mr. Jonson said and smiled at her broadly. “I love sushi,” he added, and both his children immediately turned on him with a loud, “Dad!” Ruby laughed again.
“It’s all right. I love Sushi too,” she said and smiled shyly at Connor. Again, she couldn’t believe that he was being defensive about her. This was not the impression she had of him.
“See! You kids are too uptight. Ruby gets it,” Mr. Jonson said with a laugh and offered another slice of pizza to her, which she politely turned down.
“I’m full” Tracey said and sank back in her chair.
“Me too. But I’ll eat the last one if nobody else wants it,” Connor said and grabbed it before anyone had the chance to respond.
“Well, I’m glad Tracey has a lovely new friend. I hope to see more of you, more often,” Mr. Jonson said as he got up from his chair with the plate in his hand. “I’ll leave the clearing up to you guys then,” he added, walking out of the kitchen. Connor and Tracey exchanged knowing smirks.
“He hates clearing up,” Tracey said with a sigh and got up from her chair as well.
“You can clear your own plate when you’re done hogging,” Tracey said to Connor and grabbed Ruby’s plate along with hers.
“I can do that!” Ruby said, but Tracey started shaking her head in refusal.
“You can do it the next time. Tonight, you’re still a new guest,” she said with a laugh as she strode over to the kitchen sink.
“Want some soda?” she asked Ruby, and Connor replied with a “yes”.
“I’ll be back. Gotta pee first,” Tracey said instead and headed out of the kitchen, leaving Ruby and Connor sitting at the dining table by themselves.
“I apologize for my dad. He can be quite insensitive,” Connor said to Ruby, almost immediately after his sister had left the room. Ruby jerked her head up to look at him, and even though she wanted to say something, his dreamy eyes which were focused on her rendered her mouth useless, and she couldn’t manage a response other than a polite smile.
Connor smiled and remained quiet for a few seconds, chewing on the last bit of the pizza that he was eating.
“I’m glad too that Tracey has a lovely new friend,” he said quietly, and Ruby blushed. The word “lovely” made her lick her lips self-consciously, and she dared to look at him through lowered eyelids.
“She’s a darling,” she finally managed to say and noticed how broadly Connor grinned when he heard her speak.
“I agree. But she’s pretty much been bullied all her life. I was growing afraid that I’m not around much for her,” he said and leaned back in his chair. His eyes were still focused on her.
“Tracey can take care of herself,” Ruby said. She had finally begun to grow confident enough to look at him without the fear of turning tomato red.
“I’m glad to hear that,” he said and moved forward, placing his arms on the table and leaning his head in towards her.
“You don’t need to worry about her,” Ruby said, their eyes were fixed on each other, and she could feel the heat rising in her body. He was only about a foot away from her, their bodies separated by the table between them, but Ruby could feel him – if she leaned in a little, she would be able to touch him. That was all she wanted to do.
“You’re going to be good for her,” she heard him say slowly. They weren’t smiling any longer; their eyes were locked with each other, and Ruby knew that they were having an extremely strange and eerie moment that neither of them wanted to end.
“What are you guys talking about,” Tracey’s shrill voice interrupted the moment, and even though Ruby didn’t make the first move, Connor broke away from her gaze and turned to look at his sister.
*****
“I’ll walk her home,” Ruby and Tracey both turned around at the door to see Connor standing behind them with his jacket already on. Tracey rolled her eyes and turned to face Ruby again. She had a pleading look on her face which Ruby decided to ignore and instead, said, “Thanks Connor” to him.
“She lives only ten minutes away, Connor,” Tracey said pleadingly to him, but he ignored her as well and brushed past them to wait for Ruby outside.
“I’ll see you in school tomorrow, Tracey. Thanks for having me over,” Ruby said quickly and was about to turn around when Tracey grabbed her hand.
“I don’t know what he’s trying to do Ruby, but you’re making a mistake by encouraging him,” she said in a whisper, stealing angry looks at her brother on the street.
“Will you relax! He’s just walking me home,” Ruby said through gritted teeth, jerking her arm away from Tracey’s hands and turning away. She almost skipped over to where Connor was waiting for her and greeted him with a warm smile. She had no idea where she was getting this sudden new wave of courage and enthusiasm to be casual around him.
“My sister is jealous,” Connor said with a laugh as they started walking towards her house.
“Yeah. She thinks you’re up to something,” Ruby laughed too and glanced sideways towards the guy who she was going to dream about in her bed that night. Connor only smiled and continued looking straight ahead of him.
“Are you?” she asked him and bit down on her lower lip.
“If I was, would I admit it?” he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and Ruby smiled and looked away. They fell into silence while they continued walking. A cool spring breeze was blowing, and Ruby sighed happily. This was not how she had pictured this day ending. More importantly, she did not imagine being introduced to Connor Jonson this way, let alone walking home with him.
“So why are you being nice to me?” she asked him, su
rprising herself with the question.
“Are you implying that I’m not a nice person?” Connor laughed and threw her a smile.
“You ignored me only a week ago, and now you’re walking me home. I’m just as curious as Tracey is suspicious,” Ruby said and looked at him shyly. Their arms were brushing against each other, and she could feel goose bumps on her skin.
“Did I ignore you last week?” Connor asked, and she could see the puzzled look on his face.
“Yeah. We were walking to school, and I tried getting your attention and you just walked past me,” Ruby said and looked away from him, wondering if she was being too pushy.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I had no idea. I might have been occupied with something else,” Connor said. She could feel his eyes on her again. He stopped in his tracks suddenly and Ruby walked a little ahead, turning around to look at him quizzically.
“What’s wrong?” she asked him, almost afraid that he was angry with her now for being so suspicious of him.
“I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, Ruby,” he said and took a few steps towards her. Their bodies were now only a few inches away from each other, and she could smell the pizza on his breath. It made her suddenly smile.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said quietly, and they were staring into each other’s eyes again.
“If I’m totally honest, I have been waiting for the opportunity to talk to you. I was so happy to find out that you’re friends with my sister,” he said and took a deep breath in. Ruby could see his nostrils flare, and she licked her lips. She had no words with which to appropriately respond to him without embarrassing herself massively. So she continued to look at him instead and kept silent.
“Is that weird?” he asked and screwed up his face. She could see him blushing as well.
“No. Because I’ve been waiting to talk to you too. Although I’m sure you’ve heard that before,” she finally managed to say and edged closer towards him.
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