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I watch the two of them narrowly as she laughs and offers to split it with him. Felicia catches my gaze on her and gives me a mocking smile. She knows the last thing I want is for her to get tangled up with any of my friends. Boys rarely show up on her radar, so the only reason she would flirt with Cole is because she knows it will annoy me.
Little brat.
Anya seems content to eat her lunch and watch the drama unfold. The girl is nice enough, but she’s the type to do whatever it takes to stay off the bottom rung of the social hierarchy. She won’t turn down the chance to sit with us at lunch, not when she is suddenly on the outs with her more popular friends.
“Where is Nolan?” Gigi asks, looking around with narrowed eyes. Their mutual dislike of each other isn’t exactly a secret.
“Working in the engineering lab through lunch,” I respond easily as I cast her a significant look. She’s going to have to get used to spending time around him and all the other Havoc Boys. “You miss him?”
“As much as a gunshot to the face,” she assures me with a smile.
Whether he’s just on his best behavior or not, Cole stays affable through lunch. He cracks his normal jokes and pays just enough attention to my sister that I don’t have to hurt him.
“Can you guys make room?”
Surprised, I look up to see Vaughn standing next to the table. He has a lunch tray balanced on one hand while he drags a chair behind him.
We all scoot around to make room, and he takes a seat between Felicia and Anya. His face is looking better, most of it has changed back to its normal color and the cast on his leg is one that is supposed to be walked on, so no more crutches.
“Welcome back, man.” There is a fine edge to my voice. I’ve been calling and texting him for almost a week with no response. He never even bothered to tell me he was back on campus. “I wasn’t sure you’d be coming back.”
He lowers himself into the seat with a wince. “Where else would I be?”
Evangeline nudges me and raises her eyebrows. I hadn’t told her that Vaughn basically flew the coop a week ago. Her eyes narrow as she looks him over. “How you feeling, Vaughn?”
“Pretty good, all things considered,” he says slowly. He glances at me before turning to Cole, clearly deciding on the most neutral party. “I miss anything good?”
Cole talks through a mouthful of pie. “Apparently, Olivia has a twin sister.”
Vaughn barely reacts. “Cool.”
Anya nudges Gigi whose expression stays stony. “And she never even told anyone. It’s like keeping to yourself that you have a unicorn. Can you believe that?”
“Unicorns aren’t real,” Gigi counters with a tight smile. “And twins are just normal siblings with an extra step.”
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Anya replies, shaking her head. She doesn’t seem to notice just how tense everyone else at the table has become. “If I had an identical twin, we’d trade places literally all the time. Sounds like so much fun, I can barely take it.”
Gigi drums her fingers on the table, expression annoyed. “You only say that because you don’t know. Twins don’t always turn out to be best friends.”
“That’s true,” Anya acknowledges with a sigh. “It is weird that your twin just showed up out of the blue.”
Vaughn infuses his voice with mock interest “How exciting.”
Anya picks up speed, barely seeming to notice she is the only one who actually cares. “Everyone is talking about it. Evangeline is the most interesting thing to happen since Olivia showed back up.”
I stare at Vaughn, a muscle twitching in my cheek. He isn’t even pretending to be surprised by the real Olivia’s sudden appearance. He is the only other person on this campus, aside from me, who knows the twins switched places. When he catches me watching him, the stare he levels at me is cool and emotionless.
“It is an uncanny resemblance.” Cole leans forward to snag a roll off Vaughn’s tray while he isn’t paying attention. “They’re basically the same person.”
Vaughn abruptly stands, leaving his tray untouched as he stalks out of the cafeteria.
I decide to follow him, holding up a hand when Gigi moves to follow me. “Give us a minute.”
Vaughn has barely hit the hallway when I catch up to him. The walking cast is still enough to slow him down.
I know he hears my footsteps pounding behind him, but I have to grab his arm and force him to turn around. “C’mon, man. What are you doing?”
He wrenches his arm out of my grip, nearly falling over as he loses his balance. Grabbing onto a nearby wall is the only thing that keeps him upright. “Leave me the fuck alone.”
