December Street
2. Everything exploded when introduced to the best friend
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Two days later, Rachel and Morgan sat clustered in the back of history class. Morgan attempted to make a civil apology for their professor reading the note. Rachel, on the other hand, chewed her ragged fingernails. Her curly blonde hair hung in her face but her eyes pierced Morgan's. "I..." She hesitated.
"Listen, R, I'm really sorry. I didn't know Custer was going to read the note!"
"You make it sound like you knew what was going to happen all along." Rachel narrowed her eyes and gave sort of a half-snort. Morgan cringed. Rachel's temper matched her own. "I don't know, M."
Morgan shrugged. Rachel rolled her eyes and settled into her own seat. Charlie sat down on Rachel's other side. Then he leaned around his girlfriend and said, "Hey, Morgan. I've got someone I want to introduce you to."
Rachel and Morgan looked at each other and laughed. Morgan said, "Are you trying to set me up?"
"Well, sort of," Charlie admitted bashfully. Rachel giggled and kissed him; Morgan made a face and turned away in a bit of mockery, still laughing. "He's my best friend since high school, see – we're close. Paul?"
A dark flash caught Morgan's eyes and she found herself looking into deep chocolate eyes. The young man's almost-black hair fell a little onto his forehead. He didn't smile, but his eyes glittered jokingly. "Yeah?"
"Don't be antisocial," Charlie said. "Come on back here."
Slowly, the young man lumbered back to where Morgan, Rachel, and Charlie sat. He lowered himself into the desk next to Morgan. He stretched out a hand; young but worn with the kind of stretch marks that people receive when they have seen things beyond their wisdom. He was very tall and gave Morgan a dark-eyed appraising look of scrutiny as he introduced himself. "Paul Darcy."
"My best friend since freshman year of high school," Charlie proclaimed, bursting with excitement. "I used to date his sister, but that didn't last more than a month."
"Because Gillian dumped you for someone her own age, and thank God," Paul said, giving a curt smile. "She's got good taste sometimes, I've got to say."
Morgan laughed and looked over at her pretty blonde-haired twin. "I wonder what Rachel thinks of Charlie's past girlfriends."
Rachel laughed and protested lightly, but Paul gave Morgan a look that rested somewhere between a glare and a shy smile. "I wonder."
"Morning!" echoed a voice from the front of the room, and balding Professor Custer grinned from where his head poked over a pile of books. The books were pushed to one side of the cluttered desk. He took a sip of coffee before continuing, "Wonderful day to discuss the theoretical side to Roanoke, yes?"
No one answered him. Half the class was asleep and the other half buried it something having nothing to do with history; only Rachel was buried deep in her notes next to Morgan. The latter kept sneaking glances at Paul.
A paper airplane whizzed over Morgan's head and Paul caught it rather clumsily. As Morgan watched out the corner of her eye, Paul scribbled down a note and tried to launch the airplane. Except for one tiny problem: Paul couldn't launch a paper airplane to save his life, and the airplane skidded to stop on Morgan's desk. And, well, she had to read it, right?
A note in loopy script that must have been Charlie's unfolded first: D'you like Morgan? (I'm half-in-love with Rachel already.)
Morgan, thinking of her sister in that moment, beamed. The matchmaker in Morgan loved to see with Rachel with someone who wasn't, for once, trying to take advantage of her. Her peripheral vision showed Paul looking shocked and confused, and – scared? And then Paul's message was on the second half:
Morgan's pretty, but not as hot as Carolina.
Oh, she thought as she glared a hole into Paul's head, this means war.
