Chapter Two

The next few days passed without much else happening. I hadn’t heard from Gabe since that evening, though Elle had mentioned him a few times when we passed each other heading in or out of the apartment. We were hardly in it at the same time – most evenings she was with Jared, and I was home alone, while during the day she was home and I was at school or the library.

She never said much, saying something like “Gabe asked about you today,” or “Gabe mentioned you earlier,” before we soon parted ways, nothing more. I tried to seem uninterested with stuff like that, but it couldn’t help but catch my attention and Elle seemed to notice. “You could give him a call,” she pointed out one day during a rare time where we were both sitting around the apartment at the same time. I shook my head in reply, glancing towards a clock on the wall rather curiously.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for a date by now?” I made a brisk attempt at a subject change, knowing that Elle was one to easily get off track. I was assuming that tonight would be like any other night where she was going out with Jared. But Elle shook her head back at me.

“Not tonight, Jared’s got a gig.”

“Don’t you usually go to those?”

“Nah, I’m not in the mood tonight.”

“You got into a fight, didn’t you?”

Elle didn’t reply right away, instead she looked down at the ground. Her matching hazel eyes lingered on the carpet, for just a few seconds. She abruptly rose to her feet, biting her lip as she brushed the front of her shirt off.

“That’s none of your business.” Which meant yes.

 “Did he dump you?” the slam of her bedroom door was my reply. That also meant yes.

A soft sigh slipped from my lips as I looked around the lonely living room, the television was on but was so quiet that I couldn’t make out what was being said between the characters on screen. But that wasn’t important to me right now.

Rather reluctantly, I walked towards her bedroom door and leaned against it, pressing my forehead up against the cool hard wood, though squishing my glasses against the bridge of my nose. “Want to talk about it?” I asked after a few quiet seconds, biting my lip as I waited for some kind of reply from him.

“No,” Elle’s muffled voice called from inside the room.

“Not even a little bit?” I asked, as I took a small step back from the door, waiting for what I knew was coming up. This happened every few weeks, and it was nearly the same routine. The door gradually cracked open, and my twin sister peeked her head out through the door to look at me. For a moment, she looked rather hesitant, but then opened it and allowed me inside.

Her room was completely different from min, and even though I had seen it numerous times, it still managed to catch me off guard. Her walls were bright pink – a great big contrast to the more neutral shades of gray in my room. Her room was very ... girly. Teddy bears and posters, and pictures of hunky movie stars. Everything you would expect in a teenage girl’s room, not a grown woman’s. There was no question that Elle was the more immature twin.

“What happened?” I asked as I idly wandered into her room and sat down on the comforter on her bed. It was soft and feathery, and exceptionally comfortable. She swayed slightly as she wandered back towards me, giving off a soft whine as she flopped down next to me on the bed.

“We were meeting up in a bar the other night,” she started, “and when I walk in, I see him making out with some other girl. So I say “what’re you doing?” and he has the GALL to introduce me to the woman who just had her tongue down his throat!” I stayed quiet and allowed Elle to continue her rant. “So I get mad at him, and point out that we’re supposed to be exclusive, and he tries to tell me that kissing another woman doesn’t count as cheating. Can you believe that?!”

I nodded with what she said, not entirely surprised with what she was telling me. Jared struck me as the kind of guy to insist something like that.

“So I got mad at him some more, and then he got mad at me for getting mad at him, and it just went from there. He yelled at me, said that if he wasn’t allowed freedom it wouldn’t work, and that’s it! He broke up with me just like that.”

I went to say something, but was cut off by a knock at the door of apartment. This made me more than just a little confused. People had to buzz to get up, so nobody should have been able to get to the door without their knowledge first.

I held up my finger, telling Elle that I’d be back in one second, and then walked towards the door. Stretching up on my toes to look in the eye hole, I saw an all too familiar face in the doorway and opened it in an instant, tripping over a pair of Elle’s shoes in my rush.

Gabe stood there, with his hands in his pockets and shuffling his feet awkwardly. “I-I went to ring the bell, and someone let me in instead, I hope that’s okay,” he mumbled softly. The name at the bottom, where he would buzz out apartment, also said the number, so he could just find out where we lived on which floor from there.

Stepping aside, I kicked some of my sister’s shoes out of the way so that Gabe could walk in safely. “W-what are you doing here?” I asked him after a moment, nervous to know the answer. Was here for Jared? Or had he come on his own accord?

“I came because I had to talk to you,” He said, making me look over my shoulder to see if he had been talking to Elle and I hadn’t realised it. But there was nobody behind me.

“Me?” I asked, anyways.

Gabe nodded, finally looking into my eyes. But shortly afterwards averted them. He was cute when he was nervous, I had to admit.

“I’ve sure you’ve heard that Jared and Elle have broken up,” he stated, and I nodded rather absentmindedly. “I figured, y’know, that since they’re broken up n’ all, we won’t get to just see each other anymore.”Though we hadn’t really seen each other since the night that we met, I didn’t point this out right now.

“So, I, y’know, thought that I should take things into my own hands.” Realising that we were still lingering in the doorway, I stepped aside and motioned for him to enter. I could guess where this conversation was going. But I wasn’t about to interrupt him just in case.

He slipped his shoes off, and I happened to take note that he was wearing mismatched socks, one of which had a gigantic hole in the front, making his big toe protrude from the material. I hid a small laugh, unable to help but wonder what the condition of its other pair.

I motioned him inside further into the living room. There was no sound from Elle’s room, I just assumed that she was listening at the door for whomever it was that had stopped by. Even though I had promised her that I’d be right back, I knew that she would understand me putting that on hold for just a moment.

Gabe took a few seconds to look around our apartment, then back to me. “Anyways, as I was saying, I was thinking that we should go out sometime.” I couldn’t help but that he had come this entire w ay just to ask me out.

“How did you find out w here I live?” It was strategically avoiding his question for a moment. To give myself time to think.

“Jared told me, when I asked him,” he replied, looking fairly disappointed with my decision not to answer right away.

“What’d you tell him?”

“that I needed to talk to you.”

“He didn’t mention Elle?”

“Nope.”

I nodded and sighed, wandering reluctantly towards the sofa. Motioning for him to sit down, I lingered for a little while longer on my feet.

“Do you want something to drink?”
“Nah, I’m fine.”

“Something to eat?”

“No, thanks though.”

He sat awkwardly on my couch with his hands clasped on his lap.

“I’ll be right back, make yourself at home.” I dismissed myself, then turned and walked towards Elle’s room.

He just nodded, and I could feel his gaze on my back as I walked away. He was disappointed that I hadn’t answered his earlier question.

This time I entered my twin’s room without knocking. She was seated on the bed, looking at me expectantly.

“Who is it?” she asked, as though she hadn’t been listening.

“Gabe,” I replied with a small nod, “do you want to come out and see him?” I wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea or not. He was nearly identical to Jared. If they had just broken up, then it might have been hard for Elle to see him.

She had to think about what I was asking of her, and then she shook her head. “Maybe later. I don’t think that I could do that right now.” I nodded as a reply, and then turned around to leave once more.

“I don’t think that he’ll be here too long,” I murmured with a small shrug. Elle didn’t reply as I left.

I stepped into the living room once more, but Gave hadn’t moved from his spot on the couch or even so much as moved his hands from his lap. Gabe seemed so awkward sitting there by himself, but as I walked into the room and he looked at me, his face seemed to bright up a smidge. I walked over to him and sat down on the other side of the sofa, biting my lip as I thought about some kind of subject starter.

“So,” he said, speaking before I did. I knew that he wanted to ask about going out again.

“I don’t know if us dating would be a good idea,” he seemed immensely hurt by what I said, so I knew I had to clear up my intentions quickly.

“I … want to, y’know, at least try dating. But, Jared and Elle just broke up. I think it would hurt her to see us like that,” I pointed out as he looked a bit more relieved.

“We could keep it a secret for now,” he offered, and I shrugged as a reply.

“I guess,” I replied softly, looking directly into the man’s dark eyes. “I just don’t know. We’re adults, I don’t think that it’s right to have to sneak around at this point,” though I did truly want to try going out with him. I’d never been out with a boy before, truthfully. Not for a lack of trying. But boys had always wanted Elle, and never noticed me. Until now, it seemed. Now was my chance.

But it was just my luck that my sister had just had her heart broken by his twin, and would be fairly sensitive for the next little while. Not only would I be dating someone, it was someone who looked exactly like her ex.

“Just one date?” Gabe spoke up, still looking fairly hopeful. “That way you can, y’know, see if you actually want to do it again. Like a test drive,” he giggled at that in such a childish way that I had to laugh as well.

“Fine,” I finally replied, “One, but I’m not going to promise anymore. “ I knew Elle was in her room, but hopefully she couldn’t hear us. Part of the reason why, was because I didn’t want to have to listen to her questions. I was thinking about myself instead of others first, for the first time for once in my life.

Gabe’s smile grew a mile wide after he heard my reply. “Great, I – “ he had been about to say something, but looked up when he heard the soft click of a door.

Elle had opened up her bedroom door, looking at the both of us on the couch. Gabe had loosened up considerably and wasn’t as stiff and business like as he had been moments ago. But when Elle entered I could hear him clear his throat and felt him straighten up.

“Hi,” she said briskly, though she never looked at Gabe. She seemed to look around him, but never directly at the young man. “Did you need something, Gabe? Does Jared want to tell me something?” she hadn’t been listening at the door, but in typical Elle Fashion, she assumed that he was here for her. Elle liked to be the center of attention, but I never cared if she stole the spotlight from me. Most times.

Gabe shook his head, causing her to frown. “He hasn’t said anything,” he added.

Elle mumbled something with a soft frown, then turned away and crossed her arms over her chest. “Tell him I haven’t forgiven him.” She said sternly, not giving Gabe much of an option.

“O-Okay,” Gabe mumbled uncertainly as he looked at me then back to my sister. He seemed to have returned to his nervous state.

I sighed then stood up. “Do you want to put a movie on or something?” I asked. The man shook his head and then got up as well.

“We’ve got a gig tonight,” he pointed out, then brushed himself off. “So, I should get going anyways.” I hid my disappointment and followed him as he walked towards the door. Elle wasn’t even looking at me, but I could feel her harsh gaze focus on Gabe as he walked away.

“I’ll talk to you later.” He murmured to me as we stood at the door and he struggled to her his shoes on without bending over to do it manually. I silently nodded my head and opened the door for him.

Reviews

[The Perfectionist]

Chapter Two continues your dance down cliche street, but once again, you don't go so far down it as for it to be a deal breaker. Much of my review of the first chapter can be applied here, so I will only go over those points again briefly.

It's funny, but only once or twice. Not a single character steps outside the box that you pulled them from in the first chapter. Jeanette's emotions still take center stage, though I am relieved to see you scale it back a bit and let the story tell itself in this chapter. Her disdain for her sister is equally as evident, and is going to get tiresome if it pervades as her dominant feeling toward Elle for the entirety of the story.

The chapter adds nothing to the story as far as anything aside from plot goes, but at least it doesn't shoot itself in the face. Onto chapter three, and in hopes of progress