2 - MY BROTHER’S BEST FRIEND

I spent my first night at home staring at my bedroom ceiling and trying not to think about Serena Walsh.

It didn’t work.

Serena had smiled at me like she actually genuinely missed me. She called me gorgeous twice.

Another surprising thing is how she’d casually referred to my future partner as “she.” That moment replayed in my head for most of the night.

It was eight-thirty the next morning, while I was halfway through my second coffee cup, when my mother walked into the kitchen with a smile that soon made it seem suspicious.

“Oh, good. You’re awake,” my mother said.

“That sentence never leads anywhere good.”

My mother ignored me and soon placed a plate of toast in front of me. “Serena’s coming over soon."

I narrowed my eyes. “But why?”

   

“Apparently, there are places in town she wants to show you.”

“Mom, I grew up here.”

“Well, according to Serena, things have changed around here.”

“Absolutely not.”

My mother soon raised an eyebrow. “But why not?”

If I spent another hour alone with Serena, I could soon be liable to confront fourteen years of unresolved feelings.

“Because I am tired. I literally just came back, Mom.”

“But you’ve been awake for an hour.”

“Mom, I am emotionally tired.”

“That’s not a thing,” my mum replied to me.

“It’s absolutely a thing.”

Before my mother could respond, Ethan joined me and my mum in the kitchen.

“You know she practically bullied Mom into confirming your flight details, right?” he laughed.

“What?”

“She kept asking when you were coming home,” he added.

Before I could respond, the sound of a motorcycle soon echoed through the open window.

My mother grinned. “It’s too late, my baby.”

“Tell her I am dead, Mum.”

“Maya!”

“Okay fine. Tell her I moved or I’ve gone out or something.”

My mother laughed and walked away.

Five minutes later, I had to step outside and immediately regretted every decision I’d ever made.

In front of me was Serena standing beside a black motorcycle, while removing her helmet with one hand. “Morning, kid.”

“Stop calling me that,” I soon replied to her.

Serena’s grin widened. “No.”

“One day, I am going to stop responding to that.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I didn’t know you rode motorcycles.”

“Oh, my love, you didn’t know a lot of things about me.”

My love again? There was something about the way she said it that somehow made my stomach twist.

Serena held out a spare helmet. “Come on."

"Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“You know I don’t like surprises.”

“And that’s simply because you’re secretly eighty years old, babe,” she laughed.

Twenty minutes later, Serena was driving me through town with my arms wrapped strongly around her waist.

“You okay back there?”

“NO!”

Serena laughed again. “Relax, my love.”

“It’s easy for you to say! You’re just not the one trusting your life to another person!”

“Wow. I thought we’d built a stronger relationship than that.”

If only Serena knew my mind. Eventually, Serena pulled into a parking lot, then looked out over the lake that was just outside the town.

“You remembered,” I said to Serena.

Serena, looking confused, asked, “Remember what?”

I stared at the water continuously.

“You brought me here when Ethan and I had that huge fight.”

She understood immediately. “I remember.”

“You told me this was where people came when they needed to think.”

“You brought me here because I was crying over algebra and your best friend worsened it.”

“You literally thought your life was over.”

“It practically was. I literally got a C.”

Soon after, one of her club drivers brought her SUV and took away the motorcycle. We then sat in the hood of her SUV.

“You’ve changed,” Serena said quietly.

 “At this point, I think everybody is saying that,” I said.

“And that’s because it’s true.”

I stared at the label on my bottled water. “Oh well. Maybe people change.”

“You’re still the same person who cried for three days when her hamster died.”

 I looked over. “Mr. Whiskers was innocent.”

“And you still scrunch your nose when you’re annoyed.”

I soon immediately stopped scrunching my nose.

“See?” She said, smiling.

By noon, we were back in town.

“I’m starving,” Serena said to me.

“Sounds like a personal problem.”

“And then, you find out it becomes your problem also if I pass out while driving.”

“My bad. That’s a fair point.”

Serena took me to the diner where we used to go to frequently when I was younger.

Nothing had changed at the diner.

The owner sighted us and immediately shouted, “Well, if it isn’t my two favorite troublemakers!”

Serena pointed at me, then said, “She is the troublemaker.”

I smiled. “I learned from the best.”

Mrs. Henderson appeared beside our table a few moments later. “Maya Thompson.”

Her eyes soon widened. “Look at you!”

“Hi, Mrs. Henderson.”

She looked through Serena and looked back at me, with her unknowingly smiling. “I always said she’d grow up beautiful.”

“Please don’t encourage her,” Serena replied.

“Oh, sweetheart, I don’t think she needs any encouragement.”

“I saw Claire in here earlier,” Mrs. Henderson said to Serena.

“Yeah, she’s around.”

“How is dating life?” Mrs. Henderson turned back to me.

The question was so sudden that I nearly inhaled my drink. “Excuse me?”

“What? You’re young and so beautiful, so I am just curious.”

“I…It’s…”

“Nonexistent,” Serena soon answered for me.

I blinked. “How do you even know that?”

For a second, Serena’s eyes flickered towards mine before she looked away.

Serena shrugged, suddenly pretending like she was very interested in her menu.

“I don’t.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Mrs. Henderson laughed. “Well, that’s surprising. I remember all those years when you were following Serena around like her little shadow.”

“Your mom even used to say you’d either grow out of it or maybe marry her someday.”

There was complete silence as things then became awkward.

Mrs. Henderson’s smile slowly disappeared. “Oh.”

Mrs. Henderson was so horrified by how weird the table became. “I am going to pretend I didn’t say that.”

“That’s a Great plan,” I said.

Serena soon replied, “Such an excellent plan,” she agreed.

Neither of us spoke for several seconds after she left our table.

“For the record,” Serena said carefully. “You were a very cute shadow.”

I stared at her as she continued. “Also, your mother still has a photo of you at twelve wearing my leather jacket.”

“I’d appreciate it if we could all agree to burn that picture…argh.”

“No chance, my love.”

I groaned while I buried my face in my hands, and as I looked back up, Serena was smiling at me.

The smile faded when Serena’s phone vibrated across the table.

A name flashed on the screen. It was a woman’s name.

I wasn’t trying to look, but I saw the message anyway.

Can’t wait to see you tonight. Miss you already.

Serena grabbed the phone so quickly that it almost slipped from her hand, and suddenly, all the hope she’d given me over the last twenty-four hours felt a lot more dangerous.