Chapter 68 You’re So Alike
Hallie felt like not only the carpet had been pulled from under her, but all the ground she stood on had crumbled in an earthquake.
She had just wanted to talk to her sister. She had not been prepared to see her locking lips with Luke.
“Uh... would you believe me if I said we were rehearsing for a play?” Luke asked as he came to the front foyer towards her.
Hallie’s only response to that was to give him a hearty slap on the face.
“Would it be too cliché of me to ask how long this has been going on?” Hallie pronounced.
“Nothing is going on,” Terry scoffed. “It was just one of those spur-of-the-moment things. Get a grip.”
“Get a grip?” Hallie could not believe how dismissive Terry was being. Was she seriously expecting to get off lightly as if this was just a spilled cup of tea?
“It just happened randomly, didn’t it?” Terry said, looking to Luke for support.
Touching his cheek where Hallie had slapped him, he appeared confused and lost for words.
“Why did it have to be her?” Hallie blurted out.
“What’s wrong with me?” Terry asked.
“You, shut up!” Hallie snapped, then she directed all her fury back to Luke. “I expected you to do something shitty, but not this!”
“Why not?” he said, raising his chin. “You never could bring yourself to trust me.”
“Yeah, because you’re a liar and a cheater. I expected you to lie and cheat, but you had to go and do the worst possible thing you could have done!”
“This?” he scoffed. “This is the worst? Believe me, I could do much worse. You’re really blowing this out of proportion.”
“If I’m blowing this out of proportion, then we have nothing to discuss.”
She turned to leave, wanting to be any place in the world but this house.
She had expected Terry to be treacherous, but somehow she never thought her capable of stealing a boyfriend.
It seemed to be a breach of some kind of sisterly code.
It should have applied even to sisters who didn’t entirely like each other.
“Wait!” Luke called, “I know this definitely sounds like a cliché, but I can explain.”
“Oh, really?” Hallie spun around, almost relieved that she would get a chance to harangue him. “I can’t wait to hear this. I’m sure it will be very entertaining.”
“I’m going to go,” Terry said, sneaking past them. “I hope you two sort it all out.”
“Okay, what possible explanation could you have?” Hallie asked after the door swung shut behind her.
“Well, for one thing, you reacted poorly to my kissing Terry. It was a test to see if you really care about me, and you do! I always knew you had real feelings for me.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to fly,” she said, making a skeptical face. “I don’t think you carefully planned for me to walk in here just at the moment you were kissing.”
“I beg to differ,” he said, trying to play the charmer again, “If you don’t have any feelings for me, why did you come to find me here? You can’t stay away from me.”
“And you are asking to get slapped again. I came here to talk to Terry!”
She took a breath, trying not to give in to anger. A guy like him wasn’t worth it.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, finally having the decency to look a little shamefaced. “Maybe it was just a spur-of-the moment thing. You and Terry, you’re so alike. I have to admit, I found her somewhat intriguing, but only because she looks so much like you.”
Hallie did not find this explanation any better.
“Was it really a test,” she finally asked, “or did you just do it on impulse? I’ll bet you don’t even know. You can’t be honest with me or with yourself.”
“I want to be!” he exclaimed. “Please, give me another chance.”
Hallie smiled bitterly, thinking back to all the chances she had given him, albeit in a fake relationship.
“I never want to see you again,” she said softly.
Of course, she had to see him right after since he brazenly went and had lunch with the family.
Hallie didn’t want to get into what happened in front of everyone, so she decided to stick it out.
It wasn’t hard for her parents to see that something was wrong. Despite the delicious aroma of fish tacos floating through the air, conversation was sparse.
“You’re awfully quiet, Luke,” Vivian said. “Is everything okay?”
“Maybe it’s nice not to have to listen to Luke rambling and babbling in our ears for once,” Hallie suggested bitterly, unable to stop herself.
“Did you two have a fight or something?” Vivian wondered, her brows knitting.
“No, it’s fine,” Hallie said. “Don’t worry about it.”
She was glad Terry was keeping silent too, although normally Terry would have loved to point out their imperfect relationship, it was obviously in her best interest not to reveal anything this time.
“If you say so...” Vivian muttered.
“Sorry, I’m just a little tired after our adventure,” Luke said.
“Luke came face to face with a rattle snake,” Hallie said, “almost kissing distance.”
“A rattle snake will rattle you every time,” Bill remarked jovially. The poor idiot had no idea, and Hallie decided not to enlighten him. It was bad enough that she had been hurt by this, and she saw no need to upset any more people.
Possibly the worst part was that she was going to look like an ass in front of Jessica, who had literally predicted this would happen.