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“Where’s my sister?” I ask when I open the door for her.
“She had to stay late, so she asked me to come and get you.” She smiles brightly. “Don’t look so excited.”
I fix my frown, but the best I can manage for her is a neutral expression. “I really can get to class myself, Tatiana.”
“No no, go get your bag. I’m going to that part of campus anyway, so I don’t mind!”
“Whatever,” I grumble, grabbing my bag and following Tatiana out. The way she walks ahead of me, like there are clouds beneath her feet, is exhausting to me. The only thingmissing from the scene is a flock of songbirds flying around her, and her princess appearance would be complete.
“You can’t honestly like class this much,” I comment.
“It’s fine, but I have to say I was looking forward to this walk with you more than anything else.” Tatiana blushes prettily. “Oops. That might have been too forward.”
I smirk. “No, you’re fine. Soon you won’t be that shy girl I’ve always known. You’ll be the demanding woman you’ve always dreamed of being.”
“No way,” she laughs. “I am who I am, no changes. Sorry.”
There are more pointed looks as we move through the concourse, but they roll off Tatiana like water, for which I am thankful. Elise was born having to deal with her family’s reputation, just like all of us were, but I’d have hated for Tatiana to feel awkward being seen with me. She didn’t deserve anyone's negativity.
At the door of my lecture hall, she seems reluctant to leave me, twisting her fingers in the fabric of her white lace shirt.
“Hey,” she asks, her nerves evident in her voice. “Do you want to go and eat something afterwards? Something low-key, just to unwind. Be out of the public’s eye for a minute. I have the perfect place in mind.”
With how terrible the day has been so far, I decide to throw caution to the wind, and accept the invite. Tatiana clasps her hands together happily, leaving for her own class and promising to meet me around six p.m. at the restaurant.
Class crawls by, and once it ends, I’m looking forward to dinner. Again, it’s just something to keep my mind off my ex and also from the notoriety caused by that stupid YouTube video, but Tatiana isn’t the worst company to have.
I return to my apartment long enough to throw a denim jacket on, wash my face, and slick my hair back. It’s just enoughof a departure from how I normally style myself that I might be able to go unnoticed, at least to a degree.
Tatiana is waiting for me, just like she said she would be, outside of a pho restaurant a few miles from the university. She’s undone her braids, and her wavy hair hangs around her face and shoulders. She looks happily surprised that I showed up, and she takes my hand to lead me inside, babbling about the menu and her favorite options as she does so.
She isn’t wrong about the restaurant being low key, either. It’s clearly some place people of all income brackets come, not as a status symbol, but because of how stellar the food is. It’s a small dining room, the spicy, savory scents of pho filling the air to a point that it’s almost overwhelming. Tatiana takes me to a small table in the corner, and after I finally am able to fold my legs underneath it, I pull the menu over and browse.
“Your sister was in shock when I told her that you actually agreed to come,” Tatiana tells me.
“It’s because she’s so unpleasant that everyone tries to avoid her dinner invites,” I retort.
She laughs softly. “You two really are more alike than you think.”
Tatiana is pointing out her favorite dishes when a shadow falls over the table, and when she and I look up, my heart nearly freezes in my chest.
For one brief moment, one that is both exhilarating and dreadful, I think it’s Roxanne. The height, heart-shaped face, and posture fool me for a second, before my brain works out who it really is. Lili—Roxanne’s sister.
Tatiana looks from Lili to me in quick succession, probably wondering who exactly this Roxanne look-alike is. It’s the first time today that I’ve seen her look anything but cheery. Instead, she’s reserved, leaning away from the new visitor at the table.
“Lili?”
“Andries,” she responds. “Can I take a seat? Only for a moment, and then I will leave you two alone.”
I nod tightly, even though it makes Tatiana’s face shutter further, and Lili snags a nearby chair to sit down in. She’s grasping a glass of white wine like a talisman, her body language uncomfortable but determined.
“Lili, this is my friend Tatiana. Tati, this is Roxanne’s sister, Lili.”
Tatiana smiles thinly but stays silent.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” Lili blurts out. “I know it doesn’t mean anything coming from me, but Roxanne never should have lied to you about who she really was. You can’t build a house on shaky ground, you know?”
“If she had been honest from the get-go, there would have never been any attempt on my end to court her, and all of this could’ve been avoided. Her lies have made everything explode outward like a bomb, and now I’m not just dealing with her betrayal, but the aftermath of it all, too.”
