Don't Drop Your Mask

My eyes fluttered open, like moth wings, beating furiously for the light. First I reached a hand to my head. Then it moved to my mouth.

Before I had time to adjust to the very bright lighting streaming in through my window, I ran shin-first into the coffee table, somehow managed to get past it, bee-lined for my bedroom, shot into the bathroom, and hugged a toilet.

It’s funny, at the same rate that pretty much pure liquor was leaving my body, images started flooding into my head.

Chronologically, I went from, ‘please remember it being it the other twin, please,’ to ‘well I guess we need to talk anyways,’ to ‘maybe he decided to stay consistent and go out through the window before I even woke up.’

After a good seven minutes of brushing my teeth and stomaching as much water as I could, I stumbled into the living room. I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of him.

We shared one of those awkward staring at each other moments while I tried to think of something witty to say.

“Thought you’d have left by now,” I said. Not my best, I admit.

He brushed it off, “How are you feeling?”

I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.

“I don’t know, lied to?”

He closed his eyes for a short period of time, then tried to put a smile on his face again. “Want something to eat?”

“Wanna get out of my apartment?”

“How about we sit down and talk now.”

I groaned. “There’s nothing to talk about.” Yeah, maybe I’m acting a little immature.

“I’ll go first then. Layla, I like you.”

I rolled my eyes and walked into my bedroom. I slammed the door shut behind me. He yelled out something from the other side of the door and I ignored him. I pulled on some stockings, jeans, boots, some shirts, and I grabbed my keys.

I opened to door and pushed him out of the way. “Layla, we need to talk.”

“We do not need to talk. You lied. You played me. End of story.”

I shimmied into my warm coat. “Is this just you being afraid of liking me back?”

I scoffed. “Yeah, I’m completely undeterred by the fact that you paraded around in a mask in front of me, turned out to be my friends twin brother, and then forced your way into my house last night. I’m afraid of liking you,” I said, making my way down the stairs.

He groaned. “So you don’t like me?”

“When are you going to take a hint?”

“When you flat out say something for a change.”

“Oh, I have to spell it out for you know?” I asked, spinning on my heal.

“I don’t think you can, Layla. Because I don’t think you know what you want, or how you feel. In fact, I don’t know why you’re the only one who’s mad. I mean, you slept with my brother. Out of spite.”

“I didn’t know he was your brother,” I said, slightly taken aback that he’d started fighting back this way.

“Well, on one hand, as who I was to you that night, you slept with someone to spite me. On the other hand, just solely as his brother, that was a pretty whore-ish thing to do, don’t you think?”

I had stopped trying to get away by this point. “I-I didn’t sleep… I didn’t know he—“

“No matter what you did or didn’t know at that point, it doesn’t excuse it. Big deal, I didn’t tell you my name. Travis!” he shouted, inching closer to me on the cold sidewalk. “Travis, Travis, Travis! Happy? I don’t know why I’ve been trying!”

“Travis,” I said quietly.

“No. You now what? I think I’ll walk out on you this time. Have you ever had to face that?” he spit venomously before walking back up the stairs. I stood there for a few minutes, dumbfounded.

Slowly, I made my way back up to my apartment to get Turtle.

Then I walked. And I thought. I mean, he’s totally right. I did something awful. And you know what? I really do like him.

Like, really, really like him.

I fell in love with a face I’d never seen.
A voice I only heard in compliment to sirens.
A guy that saved my life numerous times…

While wearing a mask.

And he just told me what he really thought about me…