“Oh, I completely agree with you. Tiffany Lewis wouldn’t give this life up for anyone or anything.”
That statement shocked me, not necessarily because of what he said, but how he said it. There was definite disdain in his voice, which confused me, considering they were supposedly life-long best friends.
“Has she told you anything about her family?” he asked, his tone completely changed from two seconds ago.
I recalled the conversation we’d just had about her family and where she was from. “A little.”
“Did she, by chance, mention a sister?”
Now, that caught me off guard. “No, why?”
“You see, Tiffany and her sister are complete opposites. It would be like comparing sunshine to a decomposing body. Tiffany’s sister is fun, caring, loves to laugh, and she has a huge heart. She’s also pretty guarded, though. She rarely opens up to new people, all because of how Tiffany has treated her since they were little kids.”
The more he spoke, the more confused I became. When he spoke of Tiffany’s sister, there was admiration peppered throughout his sentences. And it didn’t make sense if Tiffany was so horrible to her sister, why would he be friends with her.
But I didn’t say anything. I just continued to listen and wait for something that would eventually make sense of all this. “As I’m sure you know, Tiffany can be a bit…nasty to everyone. And I mean everyone. She’s completely ruthless, which is probably how she got all of this to begin with.” Dave mimicked me from a few minutes ago, waving his hand around in show of Tiffany’s life.
“Aren’t you and Tiffany best friends?”
“I’m getting to that.” He held up one finger and took another swig from his beer. “I’m not saying that everyone despises Tiffany, but let’s just say I’ve never met a single person who actually likes her for more than her looks, money, or fame. Whereas, her sister is loved by anyone who crosses her path.”
If he kept this up, I wouldn’t have any beer left. I just kept drinking while becoming more and more confused. It was a very complicated riddle, and there was no way I’d figure out the answer if he kept confusing me.
I was mid gulp when he said, “Which is crazy because they’re identical twins.”
The beer that I had in my mouth spewed all over Dave. Poor Dave. But I couldn’t apologize because I was too busy choking on the liquid that had started to make its way down my throat half a second before his untimely admission.
Twin? Identical?
One was fun and loving while the other was hateful?
My mind began to whirl with questions and possibilities and even more questions. The very first time I ever met Tiffany, she was vile and rude and disgustingly intolerable, unlike anyone I’d ever met. But over the last two weeks, she was nice and enjoyable to be around—well, minus the barbecue. It had seemed like she’d suffered from a split personality disorder. Split as in two entirely different traits.
I had assumed that it was all an act. And it was, just not the way I thought.
Then it hit me. “Is her sister’s name Tosh?”
“Tasha, but yeah, everyone calls her Tosh.” Dave finished wiping the dribble off his face with his T-shirt. “How did you know?”
“You sent her a box. It came to my sister’s house by accident, so I brought it over. I noticed the name on the front, and when I asked her about it, she gave me some ridiculous explanation about her name being Tosh-iffany or something like that.”
Dave laughed. It was the first time since I showed up that his expression relaxed.
“So that’s Tosh?” I asked, pointing to the house. “Where’s Tiffany?”
“That I can’t tell you. You see, we’re legally silenced by these non-disclosure agreements we signed. We can’t tell anyone anything. It’s just a lucky break that you figured it out all on your own.” He was good; I could tell why they were best friends.
“Where is she?”
“More than likely upstairs putting on dry clothes or crying in the shower—it’s a toss-up. You should probably go find out.”
Without another word, only a quick nod of appreciation, I ran into the house and took the stairs two at a time. My purpose for coming here had originally been to explain why I had pushed her away. But now, I had an entirely different purpose.
I had no idea what room she was in, but I figured I’d try every single one until I found her. Now that I