Facades

I ran my pencil over the surface of the new piece of paper in front of me. "I don't even know who the guy is, but he's pissed May of royally," I informed my sister.

"Weird. She usually doesn't get that pissed at guys. I know she gets mad, but you've never told me about her getting that mad before," Erin responded thoughtfully.

"She never does. He didn't say that he'd known her from sometime in the past and she didn't hint at that either, so I've got no idea why she would hate him so much. She basically bit off her boyfriend's head for trying to talk about him," I continued.

"Damn. Whoever this dude is, he's got a death wish or something."

I let out a laugh, picturing Tyler's cheesy grin as May chewed him out. That'd be a sight to see. "Have you asked her about it at all?"

"I tried to. She brushes it off before I can really get anything out of her, though." I began shading an area on the paper in front of me. I hadn't gotten to draw absentmindedly like this in awhile. I used to do it a lot when my sister and I stayed up way too late in our bedroom, talking in hushed tones so our parents wouldn't hear.

"You should try again. Don't let her change the subject. Maybe she knows the guy or something," Eric offered.

"Yeah, maybe... So, are you going to be headed to Boston any time soon?" I asked hopefully.

Erin let out a sad sigh. "I don't think so. Filming is taking longer than they thought it would. There were some issues on set this week so it'll be awhile longer. I will be there for your birthday, though. I promise," she assured me.

I felt my hole body deflate at the news. I hadn't seen my twin sister in almost seven months now. It was the longest we'd ever been apart. It was hard. She was my best friend, knew me better than anyone else. It was like missing my right hand. "Okay..."

There was a loud knock on my door. "I gotta go. May is here. I'll call you later or text you," I told her.

"Sounds good. Bye, Mel! Love you."

"Love you, too!"

I dropped my phone onto the couch before walking to the door. I opened it up and let May walk inside. She kicked off her shoes right away and dumped her purse onto the floor with them. "I dumped Chris. He was being a pain in the ass. I did not sign up for that shit," she announced right away.

Big surprise there. "Well, on to bigger and better things," I offered.

She let out a laugh and nodded her head. "Oh yeah. Much better. What have you been up to?" she asked curiously as she walked over to look at my open sketch book.

I quickly walked over and snatched it up, flipping it shut. "Nothing much. I was just doodling while talking to my sister," I replied.

"Yeah? How's Eric doin'? What's she up to?" she asked semicuriously.

"The set got messed up or something so filming is going to take longer than she expected," I told her. "She still loves London, of course. She and the boyfriend are still together, too. Going strong."

"Damn. What I'd give to be lucky enough to score someone like him," she commented absentmindedly.

I let out a laugh. "You've scored with guys hotter than her boyfriend. Trust me."

She smirked to herself and picked up the TV remote. "Whatever."

I fiddled with the bent cover on the front of my sketch pad as I debated bringing up that Tyler Seguin guy to her. I figured it was just best to come right out and ask instead of putting it off. "So... Can I ask you about something?" I began.

She gave me an odd look. "Of course. What's up?"

I bit my lip warily. She found a movie on my Netflix and hit play before picking up my bag of nail polish. She began digging through it. "What's the deal with that guy from the pizza place earlier this week? Tyler?"

Her face scrunched up. "Nothing. At all."

I sighed and sat down next to her, dropping my sketch pad onto the coffee table. "Come on. You never get that pissed at anyone-"

"Well, he really irritated me. That's it," she continued.

I groaned. "Come on, May. We've been best friends for a long time. Why won't you tell me why you hate him so much?"

My phone dinged with news of a new email. I picked it up and opened the email, not expecting much. And there it was, an email from Tyler himself. "There is literally nothing going on with him. I've never spoken to the guy before. He's just rotten. You should avoid him, too," she pressed.

I considered her words as I read his email.

'Coffee Wednesday at eleven?'

I opened up a response and let my finger hover over the keys. "Why is he so rotten?"

"He just is. He's obviously only after one thing," she scoffed.

I gave her a pointed look. "So are you."

She smirked. "Yeah. Well. At least I'm not a cocky bastard." She laughed at her own joke, but let out a tired sigh when she realized I wasn't going along with it. "Look. Tyler Seguin has a reputation. He doesn't need to be around us. Just trust me. You'll thank me later on. Okay?"

I chewed on my lip as I stared at her. "Yeah, okay," I gave in. I quickly typed out a lame excuse for not meeting him and hit send. Maybe I should just take her word for it. She was more into the social scene in the city. If she told me someone was bad news, they typically were. I don't know why now should be any different.

She gave me a bright smile and held up two bottles of nail polish. "Should I go with red or pink?"

I returned her smile and pointed at the red. "Definitely that one."