Chasing Isla ✔

Chapter 17

I snap my head in his direction, my brows furrowed in confusion. My eyes widen. Why would Kyle want to be my partner? I thought we were fighting in secret at the moment.

"I don't dance," Thomas explains with a cheap grin.

I avert my gaze away from Kyle and instead to Thomas. Is Thomas kidding me with this? What's he doing? He can't possibly be serious right now?

"Wait, you're not dancing?" Laura questions.

"I don't dance" Thomas repeats.

"May I have this dance?" Thomas questioned.

"Umm," I hesitated.

"I don't bite" he assured.

"fine" I agreed as he wrapped his arms around me on the dance floor.

"So where's my brother?" He asked.

"In the men's room," I responded cautiously.

"Are you scared of me?" He raised a brow.

I looked him in the eye "I'm not scared of anything"

"Maybe you should be"

"So are you just going to sit and watch?" Laura raises a brow.

"That's exactly what I plan on doing," Thomas smiled.

Oh hell no. He's dancing with me whether he wants to or not.

"He can drive" Ely points out. "when one of us collapses from exhaustion, he can drive them home"

Yeah, he'll be driving me after the first two minutes, because there's no way I'm letting Kyle touch me.

"That's a good point" Willow agrees.

"Okay, so it's settled, you're the designated driver" Laura cheers.

"Just great" I groan.

"What was that Emma?" Thomas cocks a brow.

He's such an asshole. What is he playing at?

"Can I speak to you for a sec?" I question as we make our way to the kitchen for some privacy. "What was that?" I cry once we're alone.

"You said you were handling it" he folds his arms.

So this is him forcing me to handle it.

"Do you have any idea how long a dance marathon is?" I raise my brows, "And what was all that, I can't dance, crap about?"

"I had to get out of it somehow" Thomas smirks. "...We had good memories dancing, didn't we?"

I pause. Surely he doesn't want to stand here and reminisce about our past right now.

"We're not fifteen anymore" I start slowly, "you can't keep playing these little games"

"So I play games now?" He raises a brow.

He's trying to control me, manipulate my decisions, Just like he always has. That's what him backing out of the marathon is — it's a game that he has designed to force a confrontation between Kyle and I.

"Ugh you always have" I throw my arms in the air.

"Right" he nods before clenching his jaw, "cause I'm a manipulative dick"

"I didn't say that" I roll my eyes.

Suddenly Laura enters the kitchen.

"Guys, go sit down in the living room" Laura orders in excitement, "we have a surprise for the two of you"

You could cut the tension between Thomas and I with a knife, but we do as she says and enter the living room. I don't even want to look at him right now.

"Surprise" they all cry as we see a chocolate cake on the coffee table with eighteen candles. "Happy birthday"

"I can't believe you two didn't tell us," Laura says. "We had to find out from Mr Fitzgerald that it's your birthday"

"We know that your birthday is tomorrow but we're going to be dancing the entire day so-" Tommy starts.

"We decided to celebrate tonight" Ely finishes. "And we hear you two have a thing for chocolate cake"

"Aww you guys" I force a smile, "this is amazing" I lie.

Its not amazing. It's completely unnecessary. I know I'm mad a Thomas right now but this is not what he needs. We spend his birthday grieving, not celebrating. I look over at Thomas with sadness in my eyes.

"We knew you would appreciate it" Laura gives me a hug.

"Shall we sing happy birthday?" Ely suggests.

"Let's do it!" Tommy cheers.

"On the count of three" Kyle instructs, "one...two...three"

"Happy birthday to you" they all begin singing as Thomas and I stand in front of the cake, and they sit around the coffee table.

Thomas struggles to smile. His birthday is just another reminder that he's living life every day without his twin brother. They did nothing but fight, but I guess they had their moments.

My mind goes back twelve months earlier to when I was Cara Johnson, in St Cloud, Minnesota.

"Happy seventeenth birthday" my friend Sarah screamed in excitement as giving me a chocolate cupcake.

"Thank you" I smiled. We stood in the parking lot of our favourite diner at eleven am. "You know you didn't have to do all this"

"I totally shouldn't have, cause you to know it was so much work...with the whole going into the bakery, asking for one cupcake and handing the money-" she stated sarcastically.

"We wanted to make your birthday special" her boyfriend Ross told me.

"So whats your twin doing tonight Cara?" She asked.

"Probably going to go joy riding in my father's car" I started. "With some random girl who will do whatever he wants"

"He's got the right idea" Ross smirked.

"Ross" Sarah glared at him.

"Oh, I forgot to give you this" Ross pulls out a flask from his jacket pocket, "its filled with gin"

"We're all sharing" Sarah orders, "but since it's your birthday-"

"I can go first" I finish her sentence while taking the flask from Ross' grasp.

Suddenly my cellphone began buzzing from my hand bag.

"Ahh" Sarah groans.

"I'm sorry," I say, pulling out my phone. "I'll be a sec" with that I take a few steps away from the "hello"

"So what are you doing today, on this joyous occasion?" Thomas' voice was slurred.

"You sound awful," I told him.

"That's what happens when you drink a bottle of bourbon" Thomas informed me.

"Wait you're drunk? It's not even noon" I rolled my eyes.

"C'mon it's not like you're not pouring yourself a glass right now" Thomas assumed, making me look down at the flask in my hand.

"Make a wish" Laura smiles while Thomas and I blow out the candles.

I wish that I can be Isla Mills again.