Don't Drop Your Mask

“I get to go home today! I get to go home today!” I sang.

The nurse rolled her eyes and checked her watch. “Forty-five minutes, actually,” she corrected me.

“Forty-fiiiive minuuutes!” I started singing. She started unhooking my tubes and I went down a minute. She clenched her teeth and checked my pulse, writing everything down. I went down another minute. She made me sit up and took my heart beat again. One more minute. She took a minute and wrote a bunch of stuff down. One more minute. By the time I got to “forty minutes,” she was checking my reflexes. By the time I got to “thirty-eight,” she was shoving me into the bathroom to get dressed. By the time I got to “thirty-five,” I was walking out of the hospital waving.

I think I won that game.

I started walking home and my heart started racing. I felt nervous and anxious. I breathed heavily and avoided everyone around me. I ended up half-running back to my apartment, slamming the door, and taking a deep, deep breath.

I sighed, then heard most likely Charlie pounding down the stairs.

“Layla? Are you okay?” he asked, knocking on the door. I opened it to him rummaging through his pocket for the key.

“I’m fine,” I said. “How are you?” Then Turtle came running out from behind me, happily barking at Charlie. “Turtle! You didn’t even say hi to me!” I yelled at him. He walked back over and licked my leg. “Thank you.”

“I’m… good.” He stared awkwardly at me for a minute before engulfing me in a giant hug. “It’s good your safe.”

“Thanks.”

“How’s your head?” he asked.

“Eh. Throbs a little here and there. I’ll probably have a massive headache for like, a week, due to the concussion. I’ll live.”

“I’ll make you dinner tonight,” he said.

“Charlie…” I started.

“No strings attached,” he said, noticing my apprehension. “I just don’t want you down here cooking and fainting and having my apartment going up in flames.”

“Oh, so it’s purely selfish?” I joked.

“To the core.”

“Alright,” I said with a smile. “I’m gonna go take a shower first. I smell like hospital. Then I’ll be right up,” I said.

I showered and put on a pair of jeans, some warm socks, a t-shirt, and a hoodie to keep me warm.

I blew my hair dry and decided against make-up.

I took Turtle on a very short walk and then put food and water in their respective bowls.

I walked up to Charlie’s apartment, deciding shoes weren’t really necessary. I heard shouting. My head hurt, and I’m done with drama for a while, so I just knocked.

The voices stopped. Then one said, “just get in the bedroom and we’ll talk later.” Probably Charlie fighting with his brother.

He opened the door and I smiled. “Bad time? I can come back in like, thirty minutes or something.”

“No, just come in,” he said, a little frustrated.

“I see your heat has kicked in,” I said, pulling off my sweatshirt.

He smiled. “Yeah. Thanks for the tip.” He still seemed a little bitter.

I heard a crash from his bedroom. “Brother?” I asked.

“Yeah. He’s just being moody,” he assured me. “So, I made gourmet pasta noodles with alfredo sauce from a jar. Mmm.”

I laughed. “My favorite!”

He made two bowls and we sat down on the couch to watch a little television. We heard another crash come from the bedroom, and something sounded like “I’m done with this shit.”

Charlie jumped up from the couch and ran to the door. “Just a minute.”

He opened and closed the door, and I just went back to eating. I put my bowl down and closed my eyes.

“You’re going out again? Seriously?” Charlie, I think.

“Yeah. It’s what I do. It’s something that I like to do. Do you have a problem with it?”

“Yes! Don’t go out there again!”

“Why? It was the only thing I had going for me until recently!” Boy, he must have messed something in his life up. He’s always going out partying at night.

“What? You don’t have anything going for you. No one knows you exist.” A little harsh, Charlie.

“She does! And I know she cares about me!”

“You’re a dick! She doesn’t even know you!” I sincerely hoped they weren’t talking about me.

“You were a pity fuck!” Sincerely.

“You don’t know what you’re fucking talking about. She doesn’t know you exist!”

“Hey, Charlie, I’m going to run back down to my apartment for something!” I said, not wanting to hear about their personal conversation. If it was about me, Charlie’s brother is a secret admirer. If it wasn’t, Charlie’s been sleeping with another girl. Then I guess I could think differently. Maybe they’re talking about two different girls.

I waited five minutes before heading back up, figuring that his brother, Travis, or whatever should have left.

I creaked the door open. “You?” I said. I whispered, “get out of here! This isn’t my apartment,” to him.

He looked like a deer caught in headlights. Then I stopped. This is the first time I’ve seen him in full light. He kind of looks like…

I went towards him. He backed up, but I grabbed his arm. He tried to walk away, but I held him still. He tried to stop my hands, but I forced through. I ripped off that damn mask.

”Charlie?” I said incredulously. But… the other night…

“No,” he started. I backed up slowly.

“Layla, you’re back?” Charlie said, coming through the door. “Oh,” he started.

“There’s… there’s two of you?”

“Layla, wait,” one of them said.

I turned around, totally dumbfounded.

He’s a… he’s a twin.