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“Night, Mayday.”
It didn’t escape my attention that at some point about a year ago, my twin stopped telling all of us she loved us. And it was a sentiment we had all exchanged freely our whole lives. Eventually she’d open up to me and tell me what was going on, but I knew with Shepperd it had to be on her time.
I just wished that time would come so she’d be the happy, vibrant, creative, and fun young woman she used to be.
CHAPTER TWO
MAYE
Bright and early the next morning, I scrambled down the hall to claim the shower before anyone else set up base camp in there. Imagine sharing one bathroom between five girls. Luckily, we were typically in different stages of school while growing up, so we had different start times. It had to have been incredibly difficult on our mom, who shuttled us all to and from school every day, but she never complained. When she said we were her whole life, she meant it to her core.
I reminded myself to be grateful for the things I had instead of focusing on the negative. It was the way I started every morning, and it generally set the tone for a positive, feel-good kind of day.
My nerves were pretty jangled because I was about to find out how I’d be spending my summer. Professor Chaplin wasn’t a nice man in class, so I had no idea what to expect in our private conference. He hand-selected internships for his students based on a lengthy questionnaire he had us fill out at the beginning of the semester and then again about halfway through.
While rinsing my hair, I tried to remember what was asked on that questionnaire. I could only come up with a few basic things about our demographics, though, so instead of the shower relaxing me, I felt worse than when I got in.
I decided to go with a casual look for our meeting. Originally I planned on a smart business suit and pumps, but my sister said it looked like I was playing dress-up in my mom’s clothes. Not the impression I was going for, so I changed my whole approach and picked a long, flowing skirt with a large blue-and-white floral print. A plain white T-shirt that I pulled tight around my small waist and tied into a knot at my lower back topped the outfit. I slid my feet into one of my favorite pairs of sandals on the way out the door and hopped in the car my twin and I shared, giving myself plenty of time to get to campus.
When Shepperd came skulking out to the car, I was confused. She tried the passenger side door, but it was locked. After I opened it, she slid into the front seat beside me and tossed her gym bag through the space between us and into the back seat. Luckily I was watching her, or I would’ve been smacked in the side of the face and head with the colossal thing.
“Shep? What are you doing? I need to be on campus in thirty minutes. We talked about this last night.”
“I have to work later. If I don’t go to the gym now, I’ll have to skip it altogether.”
Trying to understand the logistics of both of us needing the car, I said, “But I don’t know how long this is going to take. Can’t you just borrow Mom’s car for the day? Or God forbid, skip the gym?”
“Why should I give up my plans?” she asked stubbornly. “Just drop me off on your way. You can pick me up when you’re done.”
“That could be hours from now. And your gym is in the opposite direction of school. You know this,” I replied, trying to keep the agitation I was feeling out of my tone and failing miserably.
She buckled her seat belt and instructed, “Just drive, Maye. Or switch with me and I’ll drive. The sooner we get moving, the more time you’ll have, regardless of who’s behind the wheel,” she said while staring straight ahead. Apparently she wasn’t giving up on this plan.
So I coasted down our long driveway and headed toward my school. I wouldn’t dare be late for this meeting. Professor Chaplin was an unfriendly guy. I didn’t get the impression he’d sit around waiting for a late student or take too kindly to a student wasting his time with tardiness.
Shepperd finally looked up from her phone after about two miles into our drive.
“Maye? What the hell? You went the wrong way,” she criticized.
“I’m not going to be late for this, Shep. You know Chaplin. He’s likely to cancel the whole internship if I’m late.” I shot a quick glance her way to see if she was listening. After she nodded, I proceeded to share my plan with her. “You can have the car when we get to school. I’ll find something to do on campus until you’re done working out. Just text me when you’re heading back my way.”
“Done,” she replied while texting feverishly.
“Who are you talking to?” I asked, fully intruding into her business. “Is it the guy from the gym?”
“No one,” she said and quickly closed the screen as if I could simultaneously read her messages and drive.
“I can’t see your screen from here. Plus, I’m driving,” I reassured her. “I was just curious.”
“Or nosy,” she mumbled.
“Well, that too.” I laughed in agreement. After a few quiet minutes, I asked again. “So who were you texting?”
But she ignored me until her phone vibrated again. Then she went back to tapping away. I wouldn’t ask again and risk having my head bitten off. Not before going into this meeting with my professor. I needed to be calm, cool, and collected. Fighting with my sister always left me wrung out.
We pulled up to the building where the teaching staff held office hours, and I put the car into park.
“Okay, so text me when you’re on your way back, and I’ll meet you here. Cool?” I knew I sounded like a neurotic parent, but she was notorious for blowing people off or simply forgetting what she’d agreed to.
