Chapter 11 #2
Annabel points at him. “Hendricks twin, right?” Like she could tell the difference if he hadn’t made it obvious he wasn’t Miles.
“Yup.” He nods, but he’s looking straight at me. “What are you up to?”
I don’t know why I’m so shy around Hendricks all of a sudden, because he literally knows more about me than any other person.
I talk to him as much as I talk to Annabel and Mary, more probably, and it would be weird if I weren’t happy to see him.
But not spending so much time together makes it more obvious how different he is right now.
The same, but different. Whereas I don’t think I’ve changed at all.
I’m definitely the same height, for one.
“Not much.”
“Just wanted to find out what time your dog thing is.”
“Are you coming?” Annabel interrupts before I get the chance to reply.
“Think so. I want to come and see the dogs.”
“Cool. Make sure you bring Miles.”
“I’m at eleven,” I tell him, ignoring Annabel.
He thumbs behind him, narrowly missing a Cupid. “I’ll find my brother and the boys. We’ll try to make it.”
I want to ask him if he wants me to reserve a space, so he can come up to the counter, but instead, I say, “See you later.”
He jogs off through the crowds, and as he disappears, a smile reappears on my face. I feel ridiculously happy. Pushing my arms through Annabel’s and Mary’s, I link us together. “C’mon, let’s go see the booth.”
Like everything else in the village today, the booth is covered in big red hearts. It’s set halfway down the high street, outside The Beanery, from where the smell of sugar is floating into the air.
There’s a long queue of people, some of whom I know from school, some I’ve never seen before. A couple of much younger boys hold their mum’s hands, and, from the sounds of it, the girl standing behind the pink-and-red-striped counter, holding a wire-haired terrier, is their sister.
“This is so cute. Do you think any have been adopted yet?”
“I hope so,” Mary replies. “I wish my mum would let me get a dog.”
“Is that Sam Pelling?” Annabel asks, pointing at the front of the queue. “Yeah, it is. Sam! Sam!”
He turns around and waves.
Sam is the last person in the queue before I take my spot at the counter.
I get to hold a little pitbull / Labrador mix puppy whose tail is so waggy that his whole body vibrates.
He’s got one white patch over his eye, and the rest of him is dark gray.
I decide to name him Patch even though his name tag says William.
He’s adorable, and the first person to come up to the counter is a lady a bit younger than my mum. She takes one look at him and decides to adopt him on the spot. She doesn’t even want a picture with him. So I introduce her to the adoption staff at the shelter, and they take her to sign papers.
When I get back to Annabel and Mary after my turn is over, Hendricks is there too.
“Are you already done?”
I nod. “Yes, my dog got adopted, though, so that’s cool.”
Hendricks’s face drops. “I wish I’d seen it. I’m sorry I missed it.”
“That’s okay.” I shrug, and I’m not that disappointed, seeing as I didn’t have to do much, so he didn’t miss anything.
“Hey, guys, hey, Twin,” Sam greets as he walks toward us, pointing over his shoulder. “Annabel’s dog seems to be enjoying himself.”
The four of us turn around to see Annabel standing arms crossed, looking annoyed, while her dog tries to hump the chair she’s supposed to be sitting on. Mary snorts a laugh before she can catch it.
“It’s Hendricks, by the way, Sam.”
Sam looks at me, then looks at Hendricks. “Oh, sorry.”
“No worries. Used to it,” Hendricks replies, but grins at me.
Literally no one can tell them apart, and ever since we were in junior school, if there was no way to identify them, they were always addressed as Twin. Hey, Twin, see ya, Twin. Sometimes I wonder if people are blind. It always amuses Hendricks how annoyed I get.
They stand there, neither saying anything else. I know Hendricks doesn’t like Sam much, but Sam stayed at school here instead of leaving for Wellington, so I got to know him a bit better. And I like him. He’s nice, and he’s always making us laugh.
“Anyway, I need to go and find my mum,” Sam groans. “I said I’d look after my little sister for a couple of hours.”
“Sure, no worries.”
“Bye, guys. See you later, Story.”
There are murmurs of “bye” except from Hendricks, who’s frowning at me.
“What?”
“Why’s he calling you Story?”
I shrug. “I dunno. Everyone does.”
“But that’s my name for you,” he grumbles. At least I think that’s what he says because Annabel grabs my arm so hard I flinch.
“Ouch. What was that for?”
She doesn’t reply, only stares, unblinking, but a second later I find out anyway.
“Hey, Annabel, how’s it going?”
She flicks her hair so violently over her shoulder that it hits Mary. “Hey, Miles, good. You?”
“Good.” He grins, which Annabel seems to take as a sign that he likes her, given the way her eyes widen and her lashes flutter.
More so when he slings an arm around his brother’s shoulder, and as usual, Hendricks has to step away from me.
Miles is so annoying. “Hen, c’mon. I’ve been looking for you. We need to go find Jack.”
“Cool, I’m coming now.” Hendricks smiles at me, making his dimples show. “Catch you later, Stor. Okay? I’ll come and get you. Sorry I missed your slot, but I’ll take you to see the puppies at Burlington. They’re amazing.”
“Sure.” I smile and give a small wave. “See you later.”
Once they’re out of earshot, Annabel moans and flops onto Mary. “God, he’s so fit.”
I roll my eyes.
“C’mon, you have to admit Miles is fit, seeing as you fancy his identical twin.”
“No, they look different to me. Miles is . . .” I try to find the words, but all I can come up with is “Arrogant. Hendricks is kind. It makes them look different.”
“Whatever, they’re both fit to me. Anyway”—she pulls out her lip gloss and reapplies it, followed by her phone—“ohmigod. Miles wants to meet me by the fountain now. Do I look okay?”
“Yes, you look very pretty.” I nod truthfully while she straightens her top and runs fingers through her hair.
“Okay, thanks. Wish me luck.”
“Where’s Hendricks?” Mary asks when Annabel runs off.
I shrug. “Don’t know. Do you want to go and get a hot chocolate? Claudia might still have some flapjacks left.”
“Yes, let’s go.”
Neither of us speaks as we walk over to The Beanery. I’m sure Mary’s wondering the same thing as me, which is how Annabel is doing. I’m also wondering if I’ll ever get the chance to kiss Hendricks. Or at least see what it’s like. Wet maybe. Soft.
“Annabel will be able to tell us what we do with our tongue,” mumbles Mary with a mouth full of flapjack and sits down on the bench outside.
“Yeah, good point.” I nod, blowing the steam away from my hot chocolate before I sip, returning to our silent contemplations.
We’ve barely finished our drinks when Annabel returns. It’s like she has cartoon stars circling her head.
“Well?” Mary’s eyes are wider than I’ve ever seen them. “How was it?”
She should be given an award for how dramatic her sigh is. “Amazing. Miles is the best kisser.”
I don’t bother asking how she knows that seeing as he’s the only person she kissed.
I’m also a bit confused because I can see Miles straight ahead of me, and he’s with Lauren MacCauley.
His arm is around her, and he doesn’t look like he’s been kissing anyone other than her.
Certainly not in the past half an hour. But I turn to where Annabel is now staring wistfully.
My heart drops to my belly before I fully figure out what’s happened.
The rest of the boys are all clustered in a circle by the fountain, including the one Annabel’s staring at, hand pushing through his curls. But it’s not Miles.
The boy who’s been making out with my friend for the past fifteen minutes is Hendricks. My boy.